       Document 0173
 DOCN  M9610173
 TI    Quantitative and qualitative changes in CD44 and MEL-14 expression by T
       cells in C57BL/6 mice during aging.
 DT    9601
 AU    Barrat F; Haegel H; Louise A; Vincent-Naulleau S; Boulouis HJ; Neway T;
       Ceredig R; Pilet C; Laboratoire de Pathologie generale, Microbiologie
       et; Immunologie, Institut National de Recherche Agronomique, Ecole;
       Nationale Veterinaire d'Alfort, Maisons-Alfort, France.
 SO    Res Immunol. 1995 Jan;146(1):23-34. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE
       MED/96053386
 AB    Aging is associated with a decrease in the functional activity of T
       cells. We have explored age-related alterations in CD44 and MEL-14
       expression by spleen cells bearing the Thy1.2, CD4 or CD8 antigens in
       C57BL/6 mice at 2, 8, 15 and 23 months of age. The membrane expression
       of CD44 and MEL-14 molecules can be used to distinguish naive (CD44low,
       MEL-14high) from preactivated/memory (CD44high, MEL-14low) T cells. Our
       results show that the proportion of CD4+ splenic cells begins to
       decrease at an intermediate age (8-month-old mice), whereas the
       proportion of CD8+ cells remains unaltered. The proportion of CD4+ and
       CD8+ splenic cells with the CD44high memory phenotype was increased at
       an early stage of aging (in 8-month-old mice) without a concomitant
       change in MEL-14 expression. In older mice, MEL-14 expression decreased
       on CD4+ but not on CD8+ subsets. Recent studies have reported that
       following activation, the expression of CD44 molecules containing
       additional, so-called variable exons can be detected. By PCR, we
       observed an increase in CD44 transcripts containing the v6 or v7
       variable exons in murine lymph nodes at the age of 15 months. Our
       results suggest that v6- or v7-containing variants of CD44 may be
       involved in the development of memory cells. Taken together, these
       results suggest that the trafficking of memory T cells in aging may be
       altered by quantitative and/or qualitative differences in the expression
       of molecules involved in lymphocyte recirculation.
 DE    Aging/*IMMUNOLOGY  Animal  Antigens,
       CD44/BIOSYNTHESIS/IMMUNOLOGY/*METABOLISM  CD4-Positive
       T-Lymphocytes/METABOLISM  CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes/METABOLISM  Female
       Flow Cytometry  L-Selectin/BIOSYNTHESIS/IMMUNOLOGY/*METABOLISM  Mice
       Mice, Inbred C57BL  Polymerase Chain Reaction  Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
       T-Lymphocytes/*METABOLISM  JOURNAL ARTICLE

       SOURCE: National Library of Medicine.  NOTICE: This material may be
       protected by Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.Code).

