title: Dynamics of early T cells: prothymocyte migration and proliferation in the adult mouse thymus.
abstract: The object of this review has been to consider precursor cell migration into the normal adult thymus, using the mouse model. We have presented a series of experiments and discussed them in the context of other relevant experiments in the literature. The conclusions, qualified in the text, can be summarized as follows: There is a continual input of precursor cells into the normal undepleted adult thymus. The daily input of precursors under normal circumstances is very low (e.g. several per day). Once a precursor enters the pool of proliferating cells inside the thymus, its proliferation is limited to only several weeks. There is no permanent endogenous stem cell. There are a number of different precursor microenvironments in the thymus with different controls, since the kinetics of early (bone marrow-derived) and late (thymus-derived) precursors is quite different. All of these points require further analysis, and we have presented a minimal model as a basis for further experiment.
mesh_terms: D000315:Adrenalectomy; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000276:immunology / Q000528:radiation effects; D002455:Cell Division; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000528:radiation effects; D003348:Cortisone / Q000494:pharmacology; D007700:Kinetics; D051379:Mice; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000502:physiology; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology* / Q000528:radiation effects; D013997:Time Factors; D014916:Whole-Body Irradiation
chemical_list: D003348:Cortisone