Extrathymic origin of Vγ1/Vδ6 T cells in the skin

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Abstract
The dendritic epidermal cells (dEC) from young (8‐week‐old) athymic mice were found to express mRNA for γ/δ T cell receptors (TcR). The mRNA found in the dEC from athymic mice was expressed only for Vγ1‐Jγ4‐Cγ4 and Vδ6‐Jδ‐Cδ with both chains having productive rearrangements and junctional diversity. On the other hand, the dEC from euthymic mice carried Vγ5‐Jγ1‐Cγ1 and Vδ1‐Jδ2‐Cδ in addition to the Vγ1/Vδ6 subset found in athymic mice. Therefore, this Vγ1/Vδ6 subset, which has been implicated in the murine γ/δ T cell responses to mycobacterial antigens and self heat‐shock proteins, is the product of extrathymic maturation in the dEC from both athymic and euthymic mice.