Rouse R V, Weiss L M
Department of Pathology, Stanford University, California 94305.
Cell Immunol. 1988 Jan;111(1):94-106. doi: 10.1016/0008-8749(88)90054-8.
Fifteen human thymomas were analyzed by immunoperoxidase studies on frozen and paraffin-embedded tissue sections in an attempt to identify the existence of immunologically defined microenvironments. All nine lymphocyte predominant thymomas contained a predominance of lymphocytes bearing the phenotype of cortical thymocytes and dendritic Class II major histocompatibility complex antigen-positive epithelial cells, thus defining cortical-like microenvironments. Medullary-like foci were also seen in all of these cases. Minor phenotypic abnormalities in Leu-2 and -3 antigen expression were seen in three cases. In contrast, the two epithelial predominant thymomas and four mixed thymomas all exhibited features of aberrant microenvironmental differentiation, with only two cases showing demarcation into cortical and medullary foci. A lack of Class II major histocompatibility complex antigens was associated with a decrease in the lymphoid populations and an increase in Leu-1 antigen expression by T cells of otherwise normal cortical phenotype when lymphocytes were present. In contrast, lack of Class I antigen on epithelial cells was not associated with any abnormality in lymphocyte phenotype or microenvironmental organization. We document for the first time abnormal microenvironments in thymomas that may offer insights into understanding normal thymic differentiation.
为了确定免疫定义的微环境的存在，我们通过对冷冻和石蜡包埋组织切片进行免疫过氧化物酶研究，分析了15例人类胸腺瘤。所有9例淋巴细胞为主型胸腺瘤均以具有皮质胸腺细胞表型的淋巴细胞和树突状II类主要组织相容性复合体抗原阳性上皮细胞为主，从而确定了皮质样微环境。在所有这些病例中也可见到髓质样灶。3例出现了Leu-2和-3抗原表达的轻微表型异常。相比之下，2例上皮细胞为主型胸腺瘤和4例混合型胸腺瘤均表现出异常的微环境分化特征，只有2例显示出皮质和髓质灶的分界。当存在淋巴细胞时，II类主要组织相容性复合体抗原的缺乏与淋巴样细胞数量减少以及具有正常皮质表型的T细胞中Leu-1抗原表达增加有关。相比之下，上皮细胞上I类抗原的缺乏与淋巴细胞表型或微环境组织的任何异常均无关。我们首次记录了胸腺瘤中的异常微环境，这可能有助于深入了解正常胸腺分化。
