Evidence that the Pgp-1 glycoprotein is expressed on thymus-homing progenitor cells of the thymus.

The Pgp-1 glycoprotein is found on the bone marrow prothymocyte; however, only a few percent of cells within the normal thymus express significant quantities of Pgp-1 glycoprotein. One hypothesis is that some or all of these Pgp-1+ thymocytes represent thymocyte progenitors or the immediate descendents of the bone marrow-derived prothymocyte. A cell present in the thymus which is able to home back to the thymus and to transiently repopulate it represents one class of thymocyte progenitor. Thymocyte populations enriched in this thymus-homing progenitor are enriched in Pgp-1+ cells. Treatment of these enriched populations with anti-Pgp-1 antibody inhibits activity of the thymus-homing progenitor. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the thymus-homing progenitor bears Pgp-1 on its surface.