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Establishing reliable phenotypic data sets from the analysis of peripheral blood lymphocytes of normal animals is required to assess disease states. The rhesus macaque animal model is well established with respect to adult animals, but limited data are available that characterizes lymphocyte subsets in normal neonates. To address this, we used four-color flow cytometric analysis to follow phenotypic changes in 29 normal rhesus animals through their first ten months of life. From birth to 44 wk of age, the white cell count and absolute lymphocyte count were both elevated compared to adults. CD4+ cells constituted over 80% of all T cells at birth, a percentage that declined gradually over the first 12 wk of life, coincidental with increases in the percentages of CD8+ T cells, CD3-8+ natural killer cells and CD20+ B cells. This difference in relative frequency of CD4 and CD8 results in a significant skewing of CD4:CD8 ratio from 0.7:1 in adults to 3.5:1 in neonates. In addition, the predominant population of T lymphocytes consisted of CD45RA+CD62L+ naive cells. This subset continues to be the predominant phenotype for at least the first year of age. After birth the expression of activation markers (CD25) increased particularly on CD4+ T cells, although these levels generally reached a frequency similar to that observed in adults between 12 and 20 weeks after birth. These results are similar to those seen in humans and further confirm the reliability of the rhesus macaque animal model to study human diseases.

Three major methods have been described for the isolation of fetal cells from maternal blood : fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), immunomagnetic beads, and magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS). To date, no study has directly compared fetal cell recovery using each of these methods. Here we describe out system using a 'model' male fetal cell mixed into female peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Fetal cell yields and purities were assayed by a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) using chromosomes Y- and 7-specific sequences. Fetal cell recovery was investigated by selection of CD71 + cells or depletion of CD45 + cells. Out data demonstrated variation in fetal cell recovery for all methods tested, although CD71 + selection by FACS gave the best and most consistent results.

The close phylogenetic relationship of macaques to humans has resulted in their widespread use as a preclinical model for bone marrow transplantation and stem cell gene therapy. To facilitate further use of this model, we undertook analysis of hematopoietic cells using multiparametric flow cytometric analysis. Rhesus CD34+CD38- cells displayed a number of characteristics of primitive hematopoietic cells, including low forward and orthogonal scatter and the lack of expression of lineage-specific markers or human lymphocyte antigen-DR. Four-color flow cytometric analysis demonstrated that rhesus CD34+CD38- cells were heterogenous with respect to Thy-1 expression and were CD59dim. Quantitative limiting dilution long-term culture-initiating cell (LTC-IC) analysis demonstrated that CD34+CD38- cells were approximately 150-fold enriched for LTC-IC as compared with unfractionated bone marrow, and occurred at a frequency similar to that previously reported in humans. Thus, as in humans, the CD34+38- population of rhesus macaque bone marrow is enriched for primitive, multipotent hematopoietic progenitor cells.

Human and simian immunodeficiency virus (HIV and SIV) replicate optimally in activated memory CD4+T cells, a cell type that is abundant in the intestine. SIV infection of rhesus monkeys resulted in profound and selective depletion of CD4+T cells in the intestine within days of infection, before any such changes in peripheral lymphoid tissues. The loss of CD4+T cells in the intestine occurred coincident with productive infection of large numbers of mononuclear cells at this site. The intestine appears to be a major target for SIV replication and the major site of CD4+T cell loss in early SIV infection.