Identification of thymic epithelial cell subsets by immunohistology
| TEC subset (surface phenotype) . | Antibody . | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| K18 . | K5 . | MTS-10 . | UEA-1 (lectin) . | |
| Major cortical TEC | + | − | − | − |
| (K18+K5−MTS-10−UEA-1−): blue | (blue) | (red) | (red) | (red) |
| Minor cortical TEC | + | + | ||
| (K18+K5+): red + blue = white | (blue) | (red) | ||
| Major medullary TEC | + | + | ||
| (K5+MTS-10+): red + blue = white | (red) | (blue) | ||
| Minor medullary TEC | + | + | ||
| (K18+UEA-1+): red + blue = white | (blue) | (red) | ||
| TEC subset (surface phenotype) . | Antibody . | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| K18 . | K5 . | MTS-10 . | UEA-1 (lectin) . | |
| Major cortical TEC | + | − | − | − |
| (K18+K5−MTS-10−UEA-1−): blue | (blue) | (red) | (red) | (red) |
| Minor cortical TEC | + | + | ||
| (K18+K5+): red + blue = white | (blue) | (red) | ||
| Major medullary TEC | + | + | ||
| (K5+MTS-10+): red + blue = white | (red) | (blue) | ||
| Minor medullary TEC | + | + | ||
| (K18+UEA-1+): red + blue = white | (blue) | (red) | ||
Frozen thymic sections from mice that received allogeneic and syngeneic transplants were stained with a combination of antibodies to K18, K5, epithelial cells (MTS-10),18 85 and the lectin UEA-1. Major cortical thymic epithelial cells (TECs) were identified using a combination of biotin anti-K18 moAb (+ streptavidin-Cy5), biotin anti-UEA-1 moAb (+ streptavidin-Cy3), polyclonal rabbit anti-K5 Ab (+ goat anti–rabbit IgG-Alexa546; red), and rat IgM anti-mouse MTS-10 (goat anti-rat IgM-biotin + streptavidin-Cy3). Minor cortical TECs were identified by a combination of anti-K18 and anti-K5 antibodies using the same secondary reagents as above. Overlay of blue and red stainings is represented as a white color secondary to color alteration via computer-assisted management of confocal microscopy data. Major medullary TECs were identified with a combination of MTS-10 antibody and anti-K5 antibody. Double-positive cells were rendered white. Minor medullary TECs were identified using a combination of anti-K18 and anti-UEA-1 moAbs. Immunofluorescent sections were analyzed with a confocal microscope (Carl-Zeiss).