Percent of thymocytes that survive selection and become immunocompetent T cells

Value 2 %
Organism Human Homo sapiens
Reference Kenneth M. Murphy, Paul Travers, Mark Walport, Janeway's Immunobiology, 7th edition 2008 Garland Science p.279 4th paragraph
Comments P.279 4th paragraph: "Thymocytes also undergo negative selection during and after the double-positive stage, which eliminates those cells capable of responding to self antigens. About 2% of the double-positive thymocytes survive this dual screening and mature as single-positive T cells that are gradually exported from the thymus to form the peripheral T-cell repertoire. The time between the entry of a T-cell progenitor into the thymus and the export of its mature progeny is estimated to be about 3 weeks in the mouse." See Haynes et al., 2000 PMID 10837068 p.547 2nd paragraph:"If [investigators] assume that human thymic output is maximal at birth and comparable to the level of thymic export in mice (~2% of total thymocytes exported per day)(ref 103 therein)..."
Entered by Uri M
ID 102647