Abstract
IT is accepted that the polycystic organ, composed of branching ducts and differentiating during the first month of postnatal life into a system of interconnected cysts and acinar arrangements of serous and mucoid cells and containing almost no lymphoid cells, represents the dysgenetic thymus of the nude homozygote mouse1,2. No epithelial cystic cells and no cells with specific inclusions which may be the cellular source of the thymic factors affecting pathways for differentiation of T lymphocytes, were found in the polycystic organ3,4. The nude mouse has, however, not only the prethymic cells capable of differentiating into T cells in a thymic graft from an euthymic donor5, but also surprising numbers of θ-positive cells in the spleen6. It is suggested that these T cells may leak across the placenta from the euthymic mother into the nude foetus, may differentiate under the influence of the maternal thymic hormone, or may acquire their T-cell properties by some kind of non-thymic induction7.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Pantelouris, E. M., and Hair, J., J. Embryol. exp. Morph., 24, 615 (1970).
Groscurth, P., Münterer, M., and Töndury, G., Proc. first Int. Workshop on Nude Mice (edit. by Rygaard, J., and Povlsen, C. O.), 31 (Fischer, Stuttgart, 1974).
Cordier, A. C., J. ultrastruc. Res., 47, 26 (1974).
Tamaoki, N., and Esaki, K., Proc. first Int. Workshop on Nude Mice (edit. by Rygaard, J., and Povlsen, C. O.), 43 (Fischer, Stuttgart, 1974).
Kindred, B., and Loor, F., J. exp. Med., 139, 1215 (1974).
Loor, F., and Roelants, G. E., Nature, 251, 229 (1974).
Pritchard, H., and Micklem, H. S., Proc. first Int. Workshop on Nude Mice (edit. Rygaard, J., and Povlsen, C. O.), 127 (Fischer, Stuttgart, 1974).
Reif, A. E., and Allen, J. M., Nature, 209, 521 (1966).
Hair, J., Proc. first Int. Workshop on Nude Mice (edit. Rygaard, J., and Povlsen, C. O.), 23 (Fischer, Stuttgart, 1974).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
HOLUB, M., ROSSMANN, P., TLASKALOVA, H. et al. Thymus rudiment of the athymic nude mouse. Nature 256, 491–493 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1038/256491a0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/256491a0
This article is cited by
-
Umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells regulate thymic epithelial cell development and function in Foxn1−/− mice
Cellular & Molecular Immunology (2014)
-
Nude mice from homozygous nude parents show smaller PFC responses to sheep erythrocytes than nude mice from heterozygous mothers
Nature (1976)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
