To measure activation of TCR NY-ESOc259 expressing cells, we stably introduced a chimeric version of the TCR NY-ESOc259, a chimeric mouse/human CD8, as well as an EGFP reporter construct linked to a minimal IL-2 promoter comprising three NFAT binding sites (3xNFAT) to a mouse TCR-negative thymoma cell line derived from strain BW5417 (ATCC®TIB-47TM) (23). This evidence concerns the gene CD8A and thymoma.