STUDY OF MURINE T CELL MIGRATION USING THE THY-1 ALLOTYPIC MARKER

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Abstract
We describe the use of Thy-1 alloantigen as a marker for in vivo T lymphocyte homing studies. Following transfer of 5 .times. 107 peripheral node T cells i.v., 32% of the transferred cells could be recovered in the host lymphoid organs (spleen, lymph nodes, Peyer''s patches, and thymus); 11% of the T cells in the lymph nodes were donor derived. The transferred T cells assume the same microenvironmental and immunophenotpic distribution as the host T cells. The transferred T cells are identifiable in peripheral lymph nodes up to 170 days posttransfer, gradually declining in number during this time without evidence of rejection. This Thy-1 transfer technique permits T lymphocyte homing studies to be performed under physiologic conditions without problems of loss of lymphocyte subsets, selective labeling of lymphocyte populations, or long-term marker loss of dilution. We then employ this technique to demonstrate the antigen-directed homing of peripheral T cells to lymph node germinal centers.