title: In vitro and in situ characterization of fish thymic nurse cells.
abstract: We present an enzyme- and immuno-cytochemical, and ultrastructural characterization of trout thymic nurse cells (TNCs). Our data suggest that isolated trout thymic multicellular complexes are epithelial cells with acidic compartments that may be involved in the processing of antigens and in the generation of the MHC-II proteins that these cell express, and also that isolated TNCs are the in vitro equivalent of the pale and intermediate electronlucent epithelial cells located in the inner zone of the trout thymus, constituting indirect evidence of the phylogenetical relationships of the inner zone of the teleost thymus with the thymic cortex of higher vertebrates.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biología Celular y Anatomía, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de León, Spain.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Flaño
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Alvarez
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: López-Fierro
authors.forename: B E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Razquin
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Villena
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Zapata
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004847:Epithelial Cells; D005399:Fishes; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000166:cytology*