O ver the last few years, the characterization of T lyraphocytes within the intestinal epithelium (ilEL) has revealed phenotypic and functional heterogeneity that rivals only that observed within the thymus. Of note in this context is that thymic and intestinal epithdia share the same embryologic origin in that they are both derived from endoderm. Several lines of evidence have led to the concl...

The T cell population in the intestinal epithelium, comparable in size to the T cell pool in the spleen, is characterized by the predominant distribution of T cells bearing y 8 T cell receptors. To determine the functional significance of the intraepithelial lymphocytes, we observed y 8 T cells present in the jejunal epithelium in cattle, in which there is predominance of 7 8 T cells. Immunohis...