title: Influence of ageing on blastogenesis of mouse thymocytes in response to concanavalin A.
abstract: The influence of ageing on the blastogenic response of mouse thymocytes to a mitogen was investigated. Thymocytes from mice of various ages (10-70 days) were incubated with the mitogen, concanavalin A, to induce blastogenesis. The thymocytes were then incubated with [3H]thymidine, and the radioactivity of [3H]thymidine taken up by the cells was measured. The stimulation index (ratio of radioactivity uptake by cells incubated with and without mitogen) was used as a measure of blastogenesis of thymocytes. The stimulation index of thymocytes from 10-day-old mice was 2.9; it increased with age, reaching a peak of 33.7 in 40-day-old mice and then gradually decreasing to 8.2 in 70-day-old mice. The blastogenesis of thymocytes, an indicator of thymus function, was thus found to change considerably with age.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Bioresource Sciences, Nihon University, Kanagawa, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kanayama
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Osada
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nariai
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D003208:Concanavalin A / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D009929:Organ Size; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D003208:Concanavalin A