FITC Anti-CD8 alpha antibody [3-298],Abcam,AB24910

In chicken, the CD8 molecule is present in two forms: (i) a homodimer of two alpha chains, and (ii) a heterodimer of an alpha chain and a beta chain. Chicken CD8 is expressed on approximately 80% of thymocytes, 45% of blood mononuclear cells and 50% of spleen cells, but <1% of cells in the bursa and bone marrow. While the vast majority of CD8+ cells in the thymus, spleen, and blood of adult chickens express both CD8 alpha and CD8 beta chains, a relatively large proportion of the CD8+ TCR gamma delta cells in the spleens of embryos and young chicks express only the alpha chain of CD8. Among intestinal epithelial lymphocytes, the major CD8+ T cell populations present in mice are conserved, but there is a population of TCR gamma delta CD8 alpha beta cells in the chicken that is not found in rodents.