Recently several studies have been made concerning morphological and functional aspects of thymus grafts in mice (METCALF, 1963, 1964; DUKOR, MILLER, HOUSE and ALLEN, 1965; LEUCHARS, CROSS and DUKOR, 1965; MILLER et al., 1966). In these studies, thymuses from neonatal donor mice were usually grafted under the renal capsule of recipients, because grafting at that site offered many advantages as ...

We investigated the role of continuous thymus output in the shaping of mature T cell repertoires by studying in vivo the survival of a single clone of mature Rag2-deficient T cell receptor (TCR) transgenic cells at different stages of activation in the absence or presence of thymus export. In the absence of thymus export, TCR-transgenic lymphocytes survived indefinitely in the peripheral pools....

The establishment of a functional blood vessel network is an essential part of organogenesis, and is required for optimal organ function. For example, in the thymus proper vasculature formation and patterning is essential for thymocyte entry into the organ and mature T-cell exit to the periphery. The spatial arrangement of blood vessels in the thymus is dependent upon signals from the local mic...

Certain biological and pharmacological effects of the Thymus species have been experimentally proved, such the expectorant (1), spasmolytic (1-3), antibacterial (1,4), antifungal (5), antioxidant (6-9), etc. These activities are due to the specific composition of the essential oils (1, 4-9), flavonoids (1-3, 9), phenolic acids (4) and other chemical constituents of Thymus. Beside the data conce...

BACKGROUND Previously, we reported an association between higher maternal polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) concentrations and smaller thymus volume in newborns in a birth cohort residing in eastern Slovakia. OBJECTIVE In the present report we address whether thymus volume at later ages is influenced by prenatal and early postnatal PCB exposure. METHODS At the time of delivery, 1,134 mother-in...

Although the mechanisms of cross-talk that regulate the hematopoietic and epithelial compartments of the thymus are well established, the interactions of these compartments with the thymic endothelium have been largely ignored. Current understanding of the thymic vasculature is based on studies of adult thymus. We show that the neonatal period represents a unique phase of thymic growth and diff...

Transgenic mice with human CD3epsilon gene have been shown to exhibit early arrest of T cell development in the thymus. The present study shows that, instead of T cells, B cells are generated in the thymus of a line, tg epsilon26, of the human CD3epsilon transgenic mice. The accumulation of mature B cells in the thymus was found only in tg epsilon26 mice, not in other human CD3epsilon transgeni...