PMC

Representative CT scans of the heart region in a 5-year-old child thymectomized within 2 weeks of birth and a 5-year-old control subject. Axial and sagittal sections are shown. The arrows indicate the thymus area.

Plasma levels of the proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-8, and eotaxin in YATECs, and young adult, middle-aged, or elderly control subjects. The horizontal lines indicate the median. P values were calculated using the Mann-Whitney U test for group comparisons.

(A) Absolute counts for CD4⁺, CD8⁺ T cells and NK cells in YATECs (median age, 22.0 years). Counts in young adult (median age, 21.9 years), middle-aged (median age, 35.3 years), and elderly (median age, 82 years) controls are shown for comparison. (B) Proportions of naive (CD45RA⁺CCR7⁺CD27⁺) CD4⁺ or CD8⁺ T cells in YATECs and young, middle-aged, or elderly controls. (C) Proportions of CD31⁺ naive CD4⁺ T cells. (D) Proportions of CD57⁺ cells within memory CD4⁺ or CD8⁺ T cells. (E) Correlation between naive and CD57⁺ memory CD4⁺ or CD8⁺ T cell percentages in YATECs. The horizontal lines in A–D indicate the median. P values were calculated by the Mann-Whitney U test for group comparisons. Spearman’s rank test was used to determine correlations.

(A) CMV seropositivity among YATECs with mild (n = 17) or strong (n = 8) T cell alterations. Each circle represents one patient. The P value was calculated using the χ² test. (B) Representative stainings for IFN-γ in CD4⁺ or CD8⁺ T cells from a CMV-seronegative YATECs or CMV-seropositive YATECs with mild or strong T cell alterations upon stimulation with Staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) or pp65 overlapping peptides. Percentages of IFN-γ⁺ cells within CD8^– or CD8⁺ populations are shown. (C) Percentages of CMV-specific (pp65 and IE1) T cells in YATECs with mild or profound T cell alterations. (D) Percentages of CMV-specific (pp65 and IE1) T cells in CMV-seropositive YATECs or control subjects. (E) Proportions of naive CD4⁺ or CD8⁺ T cells in YATECs or age-matched control subjects who were CMV seropositive or seronegative. (F) Correlations between percentages of pp65- or IE1-specific CD4⁺ or CD8⁺ T cells and proportions of naive CD4⁺ or CD8⁺ T cells in YATECs. In C–E, horizontal bars indicate the median. In C and F, dashed lines indicate the limit of detection. P values were calculated using the Mann-Whitney U test for group comparisons. Spearman’s rank test was used to determine correlations.

(A) Proportions of CD4⁺ or CD8⁺ naive T cells in control age groups (open circles, young adults; open squares, middle-aged adults; and open diamonds, elderly) and YATECs (filled circles). A subgroup of YATECs with values similar to those of the elderly group is indicated by a grey square. Spearman’s rank test was used to determine correlations. (B) Representative examples of Vβ family spectratyping analysis performed separately on CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cell populations from young adult controls, YATECs with mild or profound T cell alterations, and elderly controls. Numbers indicate the index of clonality for each Vβ family. (C) Index of clonality for all Vβ families are shown in young adult controls (n = 4), YATECs with mild (n = 2) or profound (n = 4) T cell alterations, and elderly controls (n = 4). Each symbol represents a single Vβ family. + and – indicate CMV seropositivity. Horizontal bars indicate the median. P values were calculated using the Mann-Whitney U test.

(A) Representative staining of CD27 on HLA-A11 EBV EBNA-3B AK10–specific CD8⁺ T cells identified in 1 YATEC and 1 control subject. Percentages of CD27^– or CD27⁺ cells within tetramer-positive populations are shown. (B) Expression of the differentiation markers CD27 or CD57 on EBV- or CMV-specific CD8⁺ T cells, identified using tetramers in YATECs or control individuals. Horizontal bars indicate the median. (C) Representative example of simultaneous multifunctional assessment of B8-FL9 EBV–specific CD8⁺ T cells from a YATEC patient. Cells were stimulated overnight in the presence of cognate peptide prior to intracellular staining and analysis using 9-color flow cytometry. Percentages of cells in the different quadrants are shown. Plots are gated on CD3⁺CD8⁺ T cells and tetramer-positive T cells, respectively. (D) Polyfunctional profiling of EBV-specific CD8⁺ T cell populations from YATECs (n = 8) or controls (n = 10) upon stimulation with their cognate peptide. For simplicity, percentages of cells are grouped according to the number of functions (from CD107a or CD40L, IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-2, and MIP-1β) elicited in response to antigen encounter. Individual segments of the pie charts represent the proportions of cells within each total population that exhibited the number of functions indicated. (E) Polyfunctional profiling of CMV-specific CD8⁺ or CD4⁺ T cell populations from CMV-seropositive YATECs (n = 15) or CMV-seropositive controls (n = 15) upon stimulation with pp65 and IE1 overlapping peptides.