Tsuchiya M, Shimabukuro K, Mizuno Y, Yoshida T, Ono A, Yoshimatsu H
Biochem Exp Biol. 1978;14(2):101-6.
Thymuses from patients with autoimmune disease were transplanted into nude mice. The thymus transplants survived for over 40 days and evidence of restoration of thymic function was observed. The de facto loss of human thymocytes from the implanted tissue resulted in an in vitro culture of pure thymus epithelium. The results suggest that adult human autoimmune thymus has the functional ability to restore immunocompetence for a thymusless mouse, and that human "thymic hormone" is a substance which does not have species specificity. This new approach to the functional activity of thymus epithelium may also be useful for a study in the pathogenesis of autoimmune disease.
将自身免疫性疾病患者的胸腺移植到裸鼠体内。胸腺移植存活了40多天，并观察到胸腺功能恢复的迹象。植入组织中人类胸腺细胞的实际缺失导致了纯胸腺上皮的体外培养。结果表明，成人自身免疫性胸腺具有为无胸腺小鼠恢复免疫能力的功能，并且人类“胸腺激素”是一种不具有种属特异性的物质。这种研究胸腺上皮功能活性的新方法可能也有助于自身免疫性疾病发病机制的研究。
