Ontogeny of the human thymus during fetal development

DF Lobach, BF Haynes - Journal of clinical immunology, 1987 - Springer
DF Lobach, BF Haynes
Journal of clinical immunology, 1987Springer
The thymus is a complex, specialized tissue that is essential for the maturation of thymus-
derived (T) lymphocytes (reviewed in Refs. 1-3). Studies in avian and murine systems have
demonstrated that the nonlymphoid components of the thymic microenvironment
(epithelium, fibroblasts, macrophages) play critical roles in normal thymic development
(reviewed in Ref. 3). Failure of fusion of endodermal and ectodermal cell layers of the
pharynx is thought to be a central lesion in the development of athymic nude mice (4) …
The thymus is a complex, specialized tissue that is essential for the maturation of thymus-derived (T) lymphocytes (reviewed in Refs. 1-3). Studies in avian and murine systems have demonstrated that the nonlymphoid components of the thymic microenvironment (epithelium, fibroblasts, macrophages) play critical roles in normal thymic development (reviewed in Ref. 3). Failure of fusion of endodermal and ectodermal cell layers of the pharynx is thought to be a central lesion in the development of athymic nude mice (4). Others have suggested that the mesoderm-derived component of thymic stroma (fibroblasts and vessels) induces thymic epithelial-cell differentiation and fetal thymic lobulation at the stage of fetal development just prior to lymphoid-cell migration to the thymus (5-7). Moreover, reconstitution of thymic function following bone marrow transplantation in patients with severe combined immunodeficiency disease and thymic dysplasia has given rise to the notion that there is an inductive interaction between bone marrow stem cells and thymic epithelium for normal thymic development to occur (8, 9). Although
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