Effects of VEGF on TCR rearrangement, thymopoeisis, and contribution of recent thymic emigrants to the periphery. Balb/c mice and D011.10 TCR transgenic mice were treated with a continuous infusion of VEGF (50 ng/h) for 28 days. Thymic lobes were removed and total thymocytes counted. (A) Mean number of cells per thymic lobe (n = 3, ± SE, left panels). Thymocytes were also stained with antibodies to CD4 and CD8 within a CD3^–/low population and representative FACS plots are shown (right panels). * denotes statistical significance (P < .05). (B) Absolute number of CD3⁺ thymocytes per thymic lobe in balb/c mice. (C) Percentage of CD3⁺ thymocytes in balb/c mice. (D) Number of TRECs/mg of thymus tissue. (E) Contribution of recent thymic emigrants to the peripheral T-cell pool was also investigated. CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells were purified from total splenocytes via magnetic bead separation, and the number of TRECs/100 000 splenic T cells is shown (n = 3, ± SE).