The various cell types expressing Ia antigens in the chick and quail thymus have been studied by means of monoclonal antibodies (mAb) prepared by using chick and quail thymic adherent cells (macrophages and dendritic cells) as immunogens. Three reagents were selected by the following criteria: (a) they react with a surface determinant carried by thymic adherent cells and bursal lymphocytes, (b)...

Functional analysis of the thymic microenvironment using recombinant single chain antibodies D.B. Palmer, A. Solomou and M.A. Ritter Department of Immunology, Division of Medicine, Imperial College School of Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital, London, W12 0NN, UK Thymic stromal cells play a crucial role in T lymphocyte development, although the precise molecular interactions that are involved are l...

Thymic Ia antigen expression was examined with biochemical and immunohistochemical techniques. We found that expression of Ia antigens was reduced in thymic tissue of aged mice and that much of this loss was associated with cortical thymic epithelial cells. The ontologic pattern of Ia antigen expression in the thymus closely followed that observed for thymic weight, reaching maximal values at 4...

Thymic epithelial tumors are rare and often occur somewhere local. Metastatic sites of thymic carcinomas (Masaoka-Koga stage IVb) are mostly seen in the lung, liver and brain. We report a 64-year-old female with an initial diagnosis of thymoma B3 who first showed thoracic recurrences and then an asymptomatic isolated pelvic metastasis from her thymic carcinoma.

Appendiceal neoplasms include a heterogeneous group of epithelial and nonepithelial tumors that exhibit varying malignant potential. This review article summarizes current diagnostic criteria, classification systems, optimal therapeutic strategies for the five main histopathologic subtypes appendiceal neoplasms. In particular, management has evolved. Although their treatment historically been e...

BACKGROUND Thymic lymphoid hyperplasia is often present with myasthenia gravis as well as other autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis. Of the 4 cases of thymic lymphoid hyperplasia associated with Sjögren syndrome that have been reported, no case with a thymic lesion diagnosis that led to the diagnosis of Sjögren syndrome has been reported. We herein ...

Thymic involution during aging is a major reason for the decreased production of naive T cells and reduced immunity. Alterations within the thymic microenvironment, characterized by the loss of function of thymic epithelial cells (TECs) and fibro-adipogenetic transformation, seem to underlie this process, mainly through declining communication between thymic stromal cells and developing thymocy...

Decreased thymopoietic capacity contributes to the severe and clinically significant immune deficiency seen after bone marrow transplantation (BMT). One mechanism for thymopoietic failure is damage to the interleukin 7 (IL-7)-producing thymic epithelial cells (TECs) by irradiation and chemotherapy, which can be partially treated by IL-7 administration. Pretreatment of BMT recipients with kerati...