Comprehensive Phenotyping of Peripheral Blood T Lymphocytes in Healthy Mice

T lymphocytes play a central role in antigen‐specific immune responses. They modulate the function of different immune cells both through a direct contact (receptor binding) and through the secretion of cytokines. At the same time, they are deeply involved in the direct killing of aberrant target cells. T lymphocytes derive from a bone marrow precursor that migrates in the thymus where the main differentiation steps take place. Mature CD4 and CD8 single‐positive cells, then, leave the thymus to reach the secondary lymphoid organs. T‐cell subsets and their maturation steps can be identified mainly based on the expression of extracellular markers, intracellular transcription factors and cytokine production profiles. In this review, we report, from a cytometric point of view, an overview of the most important T‐cell subpopulations and their differentiation state. © 2020 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry