Study reports discovery of new cell type in thymus

  • 📰 medical_xpress
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 49 sec. here
  • 2 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 23%
  • Publisher: 51%

Education Education Headlines News

Education Education Latest News,Education Education Headlines

It came as a surprise to Professor David Lo and his graduate student Diana Del Castillo when they were recently consulted by researchers in Israel for their expertise on specialized cells called Microfold cells, or M cells, which are mostly known for their presence in the intestinal epithelium. The Israeli group had identified similar cells in the thymus, an organ located just above the heart that makes lymphocytes—white blood cells that play an important role in the immune system and protect the body against infection.

are just like M cells. Acting like gatekeepers, M cells are specialized antigen-delivery cells for the immune system in organs like the intestine and lung. They play a key role during the development of the body's immune system.

Fortuitously for the Israeli scientists, Del Castillo, under Lo's guidance, had been studying mucosal tissues—tissues that line some of the body's canals and organs—in mice in the lab and was able to answer several questions, such as where in the thymus the newly discovered cells are located and what they are doing there.

"It's still an ongoing deep puzzle that continues to attract interest," he said."The thymus offers clues to how the immune system got its start. This complicated organ, with so many different stromal cell types and interactions, is responsible for producing lymphocytes that protect us from infection."

"We found the new cells were scattered in the medullary region of the thymus," she said."This has interesting implications in terms of the role and compartmentalization of the thymus, such as how these cells may function to regulate lymphocyte training within this organ."

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 101. in EDUCATİON

Education Education Latest News, Education Education Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Princess Diana's former prep school up for sale for more than £3mIt is set in over 27 acres of beautiful parkland
Source: NorthamptonUK - 🏆 99. / 51 Read more »