THYMUS GLAND

II MSc Zoology

: Dr.C.Kandeepan., M.Sc., M.Phil., B.Ed.,Ph. D.,

D.Litt (USA), F.B.S.S., F.S.A.S.S.,
Head and Associate Professor,
Department of Zoology,
ARULMIGU PALANIANDAVAR COLLEGE OF ARTS
AND CULTURE, PALANI
Designed to
gather, destroy
infectious
microorganisms

Figure 20.10
Anterior view of chest showing location and size of adult thymus
• The thymus is a primary lymphoid organ where T
lymphocytes develop and undergo maturation.

• It consists of two lateral lobes, situated partly in

the thorax above the heart, partly in the neck.

• Each lobe is surrounded by a capsule and is

divided into lobules, which are separated from
each other by strands of areolar connective tissue
called trabeculae.
 Haematoxylin and eosin
1 - lobules
1 2- interlobular
connective tissue
4 3 3- cortex
4 - medulla
2
Each follicle is organized into two compartments:

• The cortex, is densely packed with

immature T cells, called thymocytes .

•
The medulla where there are fewer lymphoid
cells (thymocytes).

• It alsocontains nest-like bodies,

concentric corpuscles of Hassall.
• Stromal-cell network composed of epithelial cells,
dendritic cells, and macrophages.

• They make up the framework of the organ and

contribute to the growth and maturation of
thymocytes.

• Many of these stromal cells (e.g. Nurse Cells,

cTEC, mTEC) interact physically with the
developing thymocytes.
• The thymus continues to grow between birth and
puberty and then begins to atrophy; this thymic
involution is directed by the high levels of circulating
sex hormones.
Age Mass
birth about 15 grams;
puberty about 35 grams
twenty-five years 25 grams
sixty years less than 15 grams
seventy years as low as 5 grams
• Development and maturation of T lymphocytes.

• Education of developing thymocytes by positive and

negative selection.
o Generation of MHC restriction (positive selection).
o Induction of central tolerance (negative selection).

• Generation of diversity of TCR and

immunological repertoire.
Color Atlas of Immunology
Journey
Through
the
Thymus
Nat. Imm.
Rev.
• The thymus induces the death of those T cells that
cannot recognize antigen-MHC complexes and those
that react with self-antigen– MHC and pose a danger
of causing autoimmune disease.

• More than 95% of all thymocytes die by apoptosis in

the thymus without ever reaching maturity.
• Thymectomized neonate mice show a dramatic
decrease in circulating lymphocytes of the T-cell
lineage and an absence of cell-mediated immunity.

• DiGeorge Syndrome characterized by congenital

thymic aplasia, or congenital deficiency of a thymus.

• There is an absence of circulating T cells and of cell-

mediated immunity and an increase in susceptibility
to infectious diseases.
• Severe combined immunodeficiency
syndromes (SCID).
• Autoimmun Polyendocrinopathy-Candidiasis-
e Dystrophy (APECED) caused by
Ectodermal in
mutations Autoimmune Regulator (AIRE)
the gene.
• Myasthenia gravis.
• Thymomas and Lymphomas.
• HIV/AIDS.
• Surgical removal or involution of the thymus does
not result in T cell immunodeficiency !!!!!!!!!!!!!!???

• Sufficient T cells are generated during fetal life that

are long-lived and can perform homeostatic
proliferation throughout the lifetime of the patient.

• Secondary thymi.

• Extra-thymic development of T-cells.

The Belly of The Beast
A living Hell for intruders
The spleen plays a major role in mounting immune
•

responses to antigens in the blood stream.

It is a large, ovoid secondary lymphoid organ situated

•

high in the left abdominal cavity.

•While lymph nodes are specialized for trapping

antigen from local tissues, the spleen specializes in
filtering blood and trapping blood-borne antigens;
thus, it can respond to systemic infections.
The red pulp (RP) is composed of open
sinusoids containing blood.
The white pulp (WP) contains lymphocytes. (White?)
• red pulp: consists of a network of sinusoids
populated by macrophages and numerous red blood
cells (erythrocytes) and few lymphocytes;
• it is the site where old and defective red blood cells
are destroyed and removed.

• white pulp: surrounds the branches of the splenic

artery, forming a periarteriolar lymphoid sheath
(PALS) populated mainly by T lymphocytes.