Adult human autoimmune thymus transplantation into nude mice - functioning of human thymus epithelium in nude mice.

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.