Thymocyte development in an in vitro constructed chimera of irradiated fetal thymus and lymphohemopoietic cells.

An in vitro model of irradiated thymus-BM chimera was constructed to analyze the developmental interactions of donor and recipient type thymocytes. The experimental system was based on exposing 14-day fetal mouse thymuses to graded doses of irradiation and then reconstituting them with cells from various lymphohemopoietic origins. Values of donor vs. recipient type cells in chimeric thymuses varied with radiation dose, cell inoculum size and time between irradiation and cell seeding. During an 11 day organ culture period, thymocyte progenitors differentiated in this thymic microenvironment and expressed T-cell surface markers. The pattern of expression of T-cell surface markers in these cultures was similar to that in intact fetal thymic explants.