Expression of stem cell– and lymphoid-associated genes in CD34⁺lin⁻ subsets from thymus and blood. Equal numbers of CD34⁺lin⁻CD7^hi and CD34⁺lin⁻CD7⁻ cells from thymus and CD34⁺lin⁻CD7⁻ cells from normal peripheral blood (PBL) were isolated by FACS and subjected to RT-PCR analysis to define the expression levels of selected stem- and lymphoid-associated genes. All results were confirmed at least twice using independently sorted cells from different thymuses.