Premature escape of double-positive thymocytes to the periphery of young mice. Possible role in autoimmunity.

Thymectomy of 3-day-old mice induces organ-specific autoimmune disease. To define a relationship between the development of T cells early in the neonatal period and autoimmunity, we studied the thymus and peripheral lymphoid tissues of 3-day-old mice. Lymph nodes, but not spleens, of 3- to 4-day-old mice contained a significant number of thymus-derived CD4+CD8+ cells that are phenotypically similar to CD4+CD8+ thymocytes in their level of expression of CD3 and HSA. It is likely that the prematurely exported cells are the progenitors of autoreactive T cells because the lymph nodes from 3- to 4-day-old male, but not female, mice which express a transgenic TCR specific for the H-Y Ag contained a large number of CD4+CD8+Tg+ as well as CD4-CD8+Tg+ T cells. Thus, the neonatal thymus is capable of exporting immature T cells that in the absence of a thymus may differentiate into autoimmune effector cells.