Fournier M, Potworowski E F
Clin Exp Immunol. 1979 Sep;37(3):512-6.
Spontaneous leukaemia in AKR mice is characterized by an accumulation of thymocyte precursors prior to the onset of the disease. An insoluble thymic fraction (ITF), previously shown to provoke such an accumulation when injected to normal mice, caused a significant acceleration of death by leukaemia when given to pre-leukaemic AKR mice. Conversely, the injection of a soluble thymic factor (STF), believed to further differentiate thymocyte precursors, was shown to markedly delay the onset of leukaemia. These results are interpreted as reflecting the specific immune functions of T cells at different stages of maturation.
AKR小鼠的自发性白血病的特征是在疾病发作前胸腺细胞前体的积累。一种不溶性胸腺组分（ITF），先前已证明当注射到正常小鼠体内时会引发这种积累，当给予白血病前期的AKR小鼠时，会导致白血病死亡显著加速。相反，注射一种可溶性胸腺因子（STF），据信它能进一步分化胸腺细胞前体，结果显示能显著延迟白血病的发作。这些结果被解释为反映了T细胞在不同成熟阶段的特定免疫功能。
