An immunocytochemical survey of endocrine cells in the gastrointestinal tract of chicks at hatching |
| |
Authors: | B B Rawdon Professor Ann Andrew |
| |
Institution: | (1) Department of Electron Microscopy, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;(2) Department of Electron Microscopy, Medical Faculty, Free University, P.O. Box 7161, 1007 MC Amsterdam, The Netherlands |
| |
Abstract: | Summary The ultrastructure of the micro-environment of the fully functional rat thymus was studied. The thymus consists of two discrete compartments, viz., an epithelial and a mesenchymal compartment. Thymus fibroblasts/fibrocytes, mast cells and granulocytes, are restricted to the mesenchymal compartment. The thymocyte maturation process seems to occur in the epithelial compartment in a network of reticular epithelial cells. The cortex is finely meshed and filled with proliferating thymocytes and some scattered macrophages. Moreover, in the medulla vacuolated epithelial cells form part of a loosely meshed reticulum which is filled with thymocytes and interdigitating cells (IDCs). IDCs frequently contain Birbeck granules and appear to be phagocytic. Together with macrophages, they probably enter the thymus, predominantly in the cortico-medullary region, and cross the separating wall between the two compartments. Some functional aspects of the non-lymphoid cells and in particular the IDCs, which form the micro-environment of the thymus, are discussed with respect to T-cell development. |
| |
Keywords: | Thymus micro-environment (rat) Epithelial cells Macrophages Interdigitating cells Ultrastructure |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|