Development of CD4-CD8- alpha beta TCR+NK1.1+ T lymphocytes: thymic selection by self antigen

Development of CD4-CD8- double negative (DN) alpha beta TCR+ cells were examined by cell transfer experiments using an Ly-5 congenic mouse system. Purified DN alpha beta TCR+ thymocytes injected intrathymically emigrated from the thymus to the spleen. The same cells did not return to the thymus when injected i.v. Similarly, peripheral DN alpha beta TCR+ cells from spleen and liver did not go to the thymus when injected i.v. but migrated to the spleen. These results indicate that DN alpha beta TCR+ thymocytes develop within the thymus and emigrate to peripheral organs. It is thus likely that peripheral DN alpha beta TCR+ cells are at least partly of thymic origin. DN alpha beta TCR+ thymocytes are unique in that they express a natural killer cell marker, NK1.1, which is not found on conventional T cells. We further examined the thymic selection of DN alpha beta TCR+NK1.1+ thymocytes by using an anti-HY TCR-transgenic (tg)/Rag-2(-/-) mouse system with H-2 backgrounds that were negative, positive, or nonselecting for conventional T cells. The number of DNtg TCR alpha beta+NK1.1+ cells was m prominent in male H-2b animals in which conventional T cells are deleted by HY/H-2Db recognition. Fewer DNtg TCR alpha beta+NK1.1+ cells were found in H-2b females (positive selecting background), and almost no DNtg TCR alpha beta+NK1.1+ cells were detected in H-2d animals (nonselecting background). Unlike conventional T cells, DNtg TCR alpha beta+NK1.1+ cells from anti-HY/Rag-2(-/-) H-2b mice express Fc(epsilon)RI(gamma) and CD3zeta as DN alpha beta TCR+NK1.1+ cells from normal C57BL/6 mice. Our results indicate that DNtg TCR alpha beta+NK1.1+ cells are positively selected by self Ag/MHC and emigrate to the peripheral organs.