Hi Maciej Unlike the mouse humans do not have that many gamma/delta T-cells in the gut, about the same as in the blood. There are several different populations there, Lamina propria lymphocytes are mostly CD4 and Intra epithelial lymphocytes (IEL) are mostly CD8. There are also lymphoid nodules with cells much the same as any other lymph node. Almost all of the cells will display CD45RO. Most of the IEL CD8s will also express the Alpha4/beta E integrin. We did a study on human lower gut lymphocytes using tiny biopsys extracted using a flexible sigmoidoscope. We used several methods of extracting cells from this tissue all of which worked OK. Our problem was that with such small samples we observed considerable variation depending on whether we hit a lymphiod nodule or not. We tried to address this by taking larger samples with a rigid sigmoidoscope but the proceedure proved unpopular with patients. We established some cultures of the T-cells and cloned them, they didn't behave very differently that other cultured T-cells. I am not aware of any cell lines which could be used as a realistic model. Simon Monard FACS Lab Manager Trudeau Institute Saranac Lake NY12983 Ph 518 891 3080 X352
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