Peanut agglutinin. II. Characterization of the Thy-1, Tla and Ig phenotype of peanut agglutinin-positive cells in adult, embryonic and nude mice using double immunofluorescence.

The Thy-1, Tla and Ig phenotype of peanut agglutinin (PNA)-binding cells was characterized in various strains of mice. In the thymus, PNA was found to bind principally but not exclusively to the Thy-1+ Tla + Ig-- steroid-sensitive cortical thymocytes. Thy1 + Tla -- Ig -- steroid-resistant cells are not labeled with PNA. In other lymphoid organs, PNA bound to a minority of T or null cells but generally not to B cells. During ontogeny, PNA + and PNA -- T lineage cells appear simultaneously in the liver at day 10 of gestation, in the thymus at day 11 and in the spleen at day 18. No evidence was found for a maturation from PNA + to PNA -- cells. Prethymocytes present in nude mice were also divided into a PNA + and PNA -- population.