PubMed · 16513945
Evidence for a functional second thymus in mice.
Abstract
The thymus organ supports the development of T cells and is located in the thorax. Here, we report the existence of a second thymus in the mouse neck, which develops after birth and grows to the size of a small lymph node. The cervical thymus had a typical medulla-cortex structure, was found to support T cell development, and could correct T cell deficiency in athymic nude mice upon transplantation. The identification of a regular second thymus in the mouse may provide evolutionary links to thymus organogenesis in other vertebrates and suggests a need to reconsider the effect of thoracic thymectomy on de novo T cell production.
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Grzegorz Terszowski, Susanna M Müller, Conrad C Bleul, Carmen Blum, Reinhold Schirmbeck, Jörg Reimann, Louis Du Pasquier, Takashi Amagai, Thomas Boehm, Hans-Reimer Rodewald. 2006-03-02. Evidence for a functional second thymus in mice.. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1123497
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