Binding of autologous erythrocytes to immature T-cells.

A small percentage of normal mouse thymus and spleen lymphocytes form rosettes with autologous erythrocytes. The number of these autologous rosettes increases 15- to 20-fold after adult thymectomy and to a lesser degree with aging. Autologous rosette level is also abnormally high in nude (congenitally athymic) mice. The high level of autologous rosette-forming cells found after adult thymectomy is normalized by injecting ng amounts of purified circulating thymic factor. Autologous rosette-forming cells adhere to nylon, belong to the less dense spleen cells, are in majority steroid-resistant in the thymus. All these properties suggest that autologous rosette-forming cells might belong to immature T-cell (thymic-dependent cell) precursors.