CD4+8- or CD4-8+ thymocytes have been regarded as direct progenitors of peripheral T cells. However, recently, we have found a novel NK1.1+ subpopulation with skewed T cell antigen receptor (TcR) V beta family among heat-stable antigen negative (HSA-) CD4+8- thymocytes. In the present study, we show that these NK1.1+ CD4+8- thymocytes, which represent a different lineage from the major NK1.1- CD4+8- thymocytes or CD4+ lymph node T cells, vigorously secrete interleukin (IL)-4 and interferon (IFN)-gamma upon stimulation with immobilized anti-TcR-alpha beta antibody. On the other hand, neither NK1.1- CD4+8- thymocytes nor CD4+ lymph node T cells produced substantial amounts of these lymphokines. A similar pattern of lymphokine secretion was observed with the NK1.1+ CD4+T cells obtained from bone marrow. The present findings elucidate the recent observations that HSA- CD4+8- thymocytes secrete a variety of lymphokines including IFN-gamma, IL-4, IL-5 and IL-10 before the CD4+8- thymocytes are exported from thymus. Our evidence indicates that NK1.1+ CD4+8- thymocytes are totally responsible for the specific lymphokine secretions observed in the HSA- CD4+8- thymocytes.

following correction should be noted. On page 2475, the second line of the left column that reads ". . . were reconstituted with aly͞aly BM cells after lethal irradiation" should read ". . . were reconstituted with aly͞ϩ BM cells after lethal irradiation."Immunology. In the article "Modifying the sequence of an immunoglobulin V-gene alters the resulting pattern of hypermutation," by Beatriz Goyenechea and César Milstein, which appeared in number 24, November 26, 1996, of Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA (93, 13979-13984), the following revision should be noted: The formula at the bottom of the first column of page 13980 was misprinted. The correct formula is:FIG. 6. Three-dimensional structure of rQR1 in complex with FAD and NADP ϩ (12). The C-terminal 43 amino acids (232-274) are shown in red (Left), and have been truncated at the arrow (Right). Different colors of the backbone indicate the two different subunits. It can be seen that the truncated portion of QR2 is critical for binding of the pyrophosphate moiety of the NAD(P)H cofactor. Note that the contact regions between the enzyme and FAD are presumably preserved in QR2 (Right), consistent with the tight binding of FAD. The structural comparison between rQR1 and hQR2 is appropriate since the homology between rQR1 and hQR1 is very high (85% identity). CorrectionsProc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94 (1997) Contributed by Robert A. Good, January 3, 1997 ABSTRACTThe development of T cells within the thymus is largely dependent on intact cortical and medullary epithelial cells. However, it has been reported that positive selection of natural killer antigen 1.1 ؉ (NK1.1 ؉ ) T cell antigen receptor (TCR)-␣͞␤ ؉ thymocytes recently identified among CD4 ؉ 8

Initial symptoms/Acute radiation syndrome/Dose assessment/Criticality accidentA criticality accident occurred on September 30, 1999, at the uranium conversion plant in Tokai-mura (Tokai-village), Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. When the criticality occurred, three workers saw a "blue-white glow," and a radiation monitor alarm was sounded. They were severely exposed to neutron and γ -ray irradiation, and subsequently developed acute radiation syndrome (ARS). One worker reported vomiting within minutes and loss of consciousness for 10 -20 seconds. This worker also had diarrhea an hour after the exposure. The other worker started to vomit almost an hour after the exposure. The three workers, including their supervisor, who had no symptoms at the time, were brought to the National Mito Hospital by ambulance. Because of the detection of γ -rays from their body surface by preliminary surveys and decreased numbers of lymphocytes in peripheral blood, they were transferred to the National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS), which has been designated as a hospital responsible for radiation emergencies. Dose estimations for the three workers were performed by prodromal symptoms, serial changes of lymphocyte numbers, chromosomal analysis, and 24 Na activity. The results obtained from these methods were fairly consistent. Most of the data, such as the dose rate of radiation, its distribution, and the quality needed to evaluate the average dose, were not available when the decision for hematopoitic stem cell transplantation had to be made. Therefore, prodromal symptoms may be important in making decisions for therapeutic strategies, such as stem-cell transplantation in heavily exposed victims. S158 M. AKASHI ET AL.

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