Title: double-positive cell
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - double-positive cell
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.13102
Status: current

Definition
Immature T cell in the thymus that is characterized by expression of both CD4 and CD8 coreceptor proteins.

Note
In a normal thymus, double-positive cells represent the majority (\(\pu{80\%}\)) of thymocytes.

Related Terms
- CD4: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/12973
- CD8: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/12976
- Immature: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/13254
- T cell: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/13724
- coreceptor: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/13049
- thymocytes: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/13598

Source
- PAC, 2012, 84, 1113. 'IUPAC glossary of terms used in immunotoxicology (IUPAC Recommendations 2012)' on page 1159 (https://doi.org/10.1351/PAC-REC-11-06-03)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/13102/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/13102/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/13102/xml

Citation: Citation: 'double-positive cell' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.13102
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Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-08-01T15:52:12+00:00