Persistent degenerative changes in thymic organ function revealed by an inducible model of organ regrowth.

ABSTRACT: The thymus is the most rapidly aging tissue in the body, with progressive atrophy beginning as early as birth and not later than adolescence. Latent regenerative potential exists in the atrophic thymus, because certain stimuli can induce quantitative regrowth, but qualitative function of T lymphocytes produced by the regenerated organ has not been fully assessed. Using a genome-wide computational approach, we show that accelerated thymic aging is primarily a function of stromal cells, and that while overall cellularity of the thymus can be restored, many other aspects of thymic function cannot. Medullary islet complexity and tissue-restricted antigen expression decrease with age, representing potential mechanisms for age-related increases in autoimmune disease, but neither of these is rest

SUBMITTER: Griffith AV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4505612 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature