{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,21]],"date-time":"2026-05-21T05:40:08Z","timestamp":1779342008758,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Rockefeller University Press","issue":"2","content-domain":{"domain":["rupress.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[1993,8,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Studies of the most immature T cell progenitors in the human thymus have been hampered by the lack of markers and assays that define these cells. In this report we used a novel human fetal thymic organ culture system to determine the potential of T cell precursors isolated from human postnatal thymus, to differentiate into CD3+ thymocytes, and to investigate early stages of human T cell development. It was found that thymocytes that lack the markers CD3, CD4, and CD8 (triple negative [TN]) can differentiate in an allogeneic organotypic thymic culture. The capacity of TN thymocytes to differentiate was exclusively confined to the CD34+ population. CD34- TN thymocytes failed to differentiate in this system. In contrast, cloned lines of CD3- thymocytes could only be established from CD34- TN thymocytes. Five subsets of CD3- thymocytes were found with the following phenotype: CD1-TN, CD1+TN, CD1+CD4+CD8-, CD1+CD4+CD8 alpha+ beta-, and CD1+CD4+CD8 alpha beta+. These subpopulations expressed decreasing levels of CD34. The CD1-CD3- population expressed the highest levels of CD34 supporting the notion that this population is the most immature T cell precursor in the thymus, whereas the CD1+CD4+CD8 alpha+ beta+ which did not express CD34 seems to be the most mature of these CD3- populations. This notion is supported by the observations that CD34+ cells isolated from fetal liver, which differentiated into T cells in a FTOC, developed into CD3+ cells via CD1- and CD4+CD8- intermediates. Based on these data, we present a model of early stages in human intrathymic development.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1084\/jem.178.2.391","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2004,6,24]],"date-time":"2004-06-24T07:56:10Z","timestamp":1088063770000},"page":"391-401","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1084\/jem.crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":106,"title":["Precursors of CD3+CD4+CD8+ cells in the human thymus are defined by expression of CD34. Delineation of early events in human thymic development."],"prefix":"10.1084","volume":"178","author":[{"given":"A","family":"Galy","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"DNAX Research Institute, Department of Human Immunology, Palo Alto, California 94304."}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"S","family":"Verma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"DNAX Research Institute, Department of Human Immunology, Palo Alto, California 94304."}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"A","family":"B\u00e1rcena","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"DNAX Research Institute, Department of Human Immunology, Palo Alto, California 94304."}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"H","family":"Spits","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"DNAX Research Institute, Department of Human Immunology, Palo Alto, California 94304."}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"291","published-online":{"date-parts":[[1993,8,1]]},"container-title":["The Journal of experimental medicine"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/rupress.org\/jem\/article-pdf\/178\/2\/391\/1674601\/391.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"syndication"},{"URL":"https:\/\/rupress.org\/jem\/article-pdf\/178\/2\/391\/1674601\/391.pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,25]],"date-time":"2023-07-25T04:59:15Z","timestamp":1690261155000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/rupress.org\/jem\/article\/178\/2\/391\/50269\/Precursors-of-CD3-CD4-CD8-cells-in-the-human"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[1993,8,1]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-print":{"date-parts":[[1993,8,1]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1084\/jem.178.2.391","relation":{},"ISSN":["0022-1007","1540-9538"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0022-1007","type":"print"},{"value":"1540-9538","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[1993,8,1]]}}}