Thymocyte development in TCRβ Tg and RAG-1-/- TCF-1-deficient mice. (A) Histograms show the expression of icTCRβ in the DN3 subset for each of the indicated mouse strains. Numbers indicate the percentage of cells in the region defined by a horizontal bar. Absolute numbers of DN cells (± SD) are shown above each graph. (B) Density plots show thymocytes from the indicated types of mice, which were surface stained with antibodies to a lineage cocktail, CD44, and CD25. Numbers indicate the percentage of cells in the respective quadrant. (C) The indicated types of mice were injected with anti-CD3 mAb. Twenty-four hours later thymocytes were isolated and stained with the lineage cocktail plus CD44 and CD25. Numbers depict the percentage of cells in the respective quadrant. (D) Thymocytes were stained with a lin cocktail, CD44, and CD25. Histograms show the relative DNA content among the indicated DN subsets, as determined by Hoechst staining. Numbers represent the mean percentage (± SD) of cells in S/G2/M phase of the cell cycle. (E) Bar graphs show the mean of the absolute number (± SD) of DN3 and DN4 cells among lin-negative cells in mice injected with anti-CD3 or in control mice. Note that the number of cells is shown using a log scale.
