Ontogeny of Rat Thymic Epithelium Defined by Monoclonal Anticytokeratin Antibodies

Miodrag Čolić,Milijana Vasiljevski,Aleksandar Dujić,Suzana Jovanović

doi:10.1155/1990/16952

Miodrag Čolić, Milijana Vasiljevski + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1155/1990/16952

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Journal: Developmental Immunology	Publication Date: Jan 1, 1990
Citations: 8	License type: CC BY 3.0

Affiliation: Military Medical Academy

Abstract

Ontogenetic study on the expression of cytokeratin (CK) polypeptides within particular subsets of rat thymic epithelial cells (TEC) has been performed by a large panel of anti-CK monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) using the streptavidin-biotin immunoperoxidase method. Simultaneous presence of two or more CK subunits in the same TEC has been demonstrated by double immunoflouorescence labeling. The obtained results showed that the expression of CK polypeptides in fetal and neonatal thymus differed from the adult patterns. The main difference was observed in expression of CK10, 18, and 19 polypeptides. During fetal ontogeny, CK10 and 18 are markers for most medullary TEC or a subset of medullary TEC, respectively, whereas CK19 is mainly a pan-TEC marker. In the adult animals, they are localized in the cortical and a subset of medullary TEC (CK18), subcapsular/perivascular and some medullary TEC (CK19), or in a subset of medullary TEC and Hasall’s corpuscles (HC) (CK10). The switch in their expression in the cortex was observed during the first two weeks of postnatal life.

Highlights

Thymic epithelial cells (TEC) form a supporting network of the thymus and play important roles in the generation of T lymphocytes
In our recent work ((oli4 et al, 1989), using multimarker analysis of the rat thymic epithelial cells (TEC) by a panel of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) recognizing individual CK polypeptides or pairs, we identified six different TEC subsets, each characterized by a different CK map
The use of anti-CK mAbs (Table 1) demonstrated different expressions of particular CK polypeptides in the rat TEC during ontogeny

Summary

Introduction

Thymic epithelial cells (TEC) form a supporting network of the thymus and play important roles in the generation of T lymphocytes. The use of anti-CK mAbs (Table 1) demonstrated different expressions of particular CK polypeptides in the rat TEC during ontogeny. The same staining patterns were seen with K 8.13 mAb. During fetal ontogeny, CK18 bound to few cells in the medulla, whereas in the postnatal period, it was gradually expressed in the cortex

Results

Conclusion