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Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Kuwait University,

P.O. Box: 5969, Safat, 13060, Kuwait

ABSTRACT

A panel of monoclonal anti-CD45 antibodies has been employed in one-dimensional SDS-PAGE and Western blotting to investigate putative age-related differential expression of CD45 isoforms among thymic and peripheral lymphocytes of newly-born, young and aged BALB/c mice.  Both tissue-specific and age-dependent differences in CD45 isoform expression were notable in blots of total, PNA+ (immature) and PNA- (mature) thymocytes and splenocytes of each of the specified age groups of mice, probed by either mAb 30-F11 (specific to all conventional CD45 isoforms), mAb 14.8 (specific to an exon A-dependent epitope), or mAb CT1 (specific to a CD45-C363.16A (specific to an exon B-dependent epitope), or mAb CT1 (specific to CD45-associated glycan epitope).  Although our observations were indicative of a lack of n age-related distinction in exon A-dependent epitope utilization, salient age-related differences were observed in exon B-dependent epitope utilization  as well as the mode of expression of the glycan epitope.  The observed age-dependent  structural alterations of CD45 isoform expression ma be correlated to impairment of lymphocyte function during the ageing process.