Deletion of autospecific T cells in T cell receptor (TCR) transgenic mice spares cells with normal TCR levels and low levels of CD8 molecules

Transgenic mice that carry on a large fraction of their T cells an α/β T cell receptor that recognizes the male antigen in the context of H-2D^b molecules were constructed. An mAb specific for the transgenic receptor was developed and used to analyze T cell subsets in male transgenic H-2^b mice. The vast majority of immature CD4⁺8⁺ T cells that express the transgenic TCR were deleted in the male transgenic mouse. Nevertheless, the majority of T cells spared by this deletion process expressed a high level of the transgenic TCR. These T cells, however, had an abnormal CD4/CD8 phenotype in that they expressed either no CD8 molecules or only low levels.