Brelińska Renata
Department of Histology and Embryology, University of Medical Sciences, Pl-60-781 Poznań, Poland.
Microsc Res Tech. 2003 Dec 15;62(6):488-500. doi: 10.1002/jemt.10410.
Aging involves morphological and functional alterations within the microenvironment of the thymus where heterogenous populations of thymic epithelial cells (TEC) play the main roles. The studies performed to date on thymic involution signalize a disturbed interaction between individual thymic compartments that disrupt thymocyte-TEC interactions and, as a sequele, disturb differentiation of both TEC and thymocytes. The process of aging affects the various subsets of TEC at different periods of life. Changes in different subsets of TEC are documented on the basis of their phenotypical characteristics, involving morphological analysis and immunocytochemistry. The character and kinetics of changes in TEC are typical for individual subsets and probably sex-dependent. In the course of life, the involutionary changes, expressed by disorganised thymic structure and function, are accompanied by changes in medullary TEC, manifested by alterations in the differentiation process of the cells. In parallel, at the same stage of individual life, the aging process induces increased proliferative and secretory activity of subseptal TEC, which seem to functionally replace medullary TEC. Structural and phenotypic modifications of TEC are locally controlled by complex sets of different factors and seem to represent a morphological adaptation of the gland to the process of aging. Microsc. Res. Tech. 62:488-500, 2003.
衰老涉及胸腺微环境中的形态和功能改变，其中胸腺上皮细胞（TEC）的异质群体发挥主要作用。迄今为止，关于胸腺退化的研究表明，各个胸腺区室之间的相互作用受到干扰，这破坏了胸腺细胞与TEC之间的相互作用，进而干扰了TEC和胸腺细胞的分化。衰老过程在生命的不同时期影响TEC的各个亚群。基于其表型特征，包括形态学分析和免疫细胞化学，记录了TEC不同亚群的变化。TEC变化的特征和动力学对于各个亚群来说是典型的，并且可能与性别有关。在生命过程中，以胸腺结构和功能紊乱为表现的退化性变化伴随着髓质TEC的变化，表现为细胞分化过程的改变。与此同时，在个体生命的同一阶段，衰老过程会导致隔下TEC的增殖和分泌活性增加，这些TEC似乎在功能上替代了髓质TEC。TEC的结构和表型修饰受多种不同因素的局部控制，似乎代表了腺体对衰老过程的形态学适应。《微观研究与技术》62:488 - 500，2003年。
