FUNCTIONAL-CHARACTERIZATION OF HUMAN THYMOCYTE SUBPOPULATIONS SEPARATED BY DENSITY GRADIENT CENTRIFUGATION

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  • 1 January 1984
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 55  (2) , 388-396
Abstract
A bovine serum albumin gradient was used to separate 2 populations of human thymocytes, a minority population (8%) of large thymocytes (LT) and a majority population (92%) of small thymocytes (ST). Of LT cells 50% were in the S, G2 or M phases of the cell cycle compared to 5% of ST cells and 15% of unfractionated thymocytes. LT cells proliferated in response to T cell mitogens and included all of the T colony precursor cells (TCPC). ST cells proliferated with mitogens only in the presence of added T cell growth factors and contained none of the thymocyte TCPC. ST cells neither helped nor suppressed the function of LT cells in any assay. This separation technique has provided a rapid method for isolating functionally distinct thymic lymphocyte subpopulations and permitted a further definition of the TCPC in the human thymus. It should prove useful in studies of thymocytes at different stages of the cell cycle.