Species heterogeneity in macrophage expression of the CD4 antigen.

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Abstract
The CD4 antigen is expressed on T cells of all mammalian species examined and appears to play an important role in the response of T cells to antigen. In humans, the molecular acts as a receptor for the AIDS virus. Previous studies (2,3) have demonstrated that M .vphi. in the rat and human also express the CD4 antigen, which is indistinguishable from that on T cells. In this paper we demonstrate by FACS analysis, Northern blot hybridization, and immunoperoxidase labeling that, in striking contrast to the rat and human, mouse M.vphi. do not express the CD4 (L3T4) antigen. This species heterogeneity indicates that T cells and M.vphi. regulate CD4 antigen expression independently and that CD4 may not be essential for M.vphi. function.