T cell-depleted cultured pediatric thymus tissue as a model for some aspects of human age-related thymus involution.

ABSTRACT: Human age-related thymus involution is characterized by loss of developing thymocytes and the thymic epithelial network that supports them, with replacement by adipose tissue. The mechanisms that drive these changes are difficult to study in vivo due to constant trafficking to and from the thymus. We hypothesized that the loss of thymocytes that occurs during human thymic organ cultures could model some aspects of thymus involution and begin to identify mechanisms that drive age-related changes in the thymic microenvironment. Potential mechanistically important candidate molecules were initially identified by screening conditioned media from human thymus organ cultures using antibody microarrays. These candidates were further validated using cultured tissue extracts and conditioned media.

SUBMITTER: Hale LP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8190428 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature