Abstract
Publisher Summary Myoid cells commonly appear in the thymus of reptiles, birds, and mammals, including humans. The rather unexpected presence of these cells in this organ has attracted special attention because it has been thought to be related with the autoimmune disease, myasthenia gravis. Most myoid cells are situated in the medulla of the thymus and they share common morphological and functional characteristics with skeletal muscle. The origin of the thymic myoid cells (TMC) has been a matter of dispute and two alternative hypotheses have been proposed. One is that TMC occur as a result of the transdifferentiation of thymic endoderma1 epithelial cells. In the second hypothesis, TMC are considered to originate from the surrounding tissues. Thus, the problem of seemingly ectopic differentiation of myoid cells in thymus is reviewed in this chapter. From the results of electron microscopic and immunohistochemical studies on the chimeric birds, it has been concluded that TMC do not occur by the transdifferentiation of the thymic epithelial cells, but are derived from the neural crest.
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