title: Aged human thymus hassall's corpuscles are immunoreactive for IGF-I and IGF-I receptor.
abstract: Although Hassall's corpuscles have been proposed to act in both maturation of developing thymocytes and removal of apoptotic cells, their function remains an enigma. The involvement of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) in the local autocrine and paracrine control of T-cell development in human thymus is still unclear. In this study, we investigated the structure and distribution of IGF-I and IGF-I receptor (IGF-IR)-immunopositive Hassall's corpuscles in aged human thymus using bright-field immunohistochemistry and immunoelectron microscopy. We report new immunocytochemical data for the presence of IGF-I/IGF-IR double-immunopositive Hassall's corpuscles in structurally preserved regions of age-involuted thymus and discuss the involvement of these unique thymic components in the local regulation of T-cell development and thymus plasticity during aging by IGF-I/IGF-IR-mediated cell signaling pathway.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Medical Genetics and Microbiology, Medical Faculty, Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski, Bulgaria. angelov.anatomie@uni-koeln.de
authors.forename: Tsvetana Ts
authors.initials: TTs
authors.lastname: Marinova
authors.forename: Lyubomir D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Spassov
authors.forename: Veselin I
authors.initials: VI
authors.lastname: Vlassov
authors.forename: Vili V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Pashev
authors.forename: Maya D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Markova
authors.forename: Varban S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Ganev
authors.forename: Ralitsa S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Dzhupanova
authors.forename: Doychin N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Angelov
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000276:immunology; D004848:Epithelium / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000378:metabolism*; D038041:Lymphopoiesis / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D016253:Microscopy, Immunoelectron; D008875:Middle Aged; D017526:Receptor, IGF Type 1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000276:immunology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I; D017526:Receptor, IGF Type 1