.... When early thymic progenitors from young animals were injected into old thymuses, they were unable to restore thymopoeisis [ 8 ]. This was also complemented by a study showing that progenitor cells were recruited equally well by the thymus of young and aged mice [ 9 ]. Both studies suggest that the age...

... (20±2°C) or in pairs at 8°C for 5 weeks. Thymocytes were isolated as described by Buttgereit et al. [ 10 ]. The thymus was removed from the rat, trimmed clean of connective tissue and brown fat (if present) and transferred into RPMI 1640 medium containing fresh L -glutamine (final concentration, 2 mM...

... of peripheral T cells are thought to be causally linked to an age-associated involution in the thymus. Our analysis reveals that thymic involution is due to a change in the thymic microenvironment linked to a reduction in the level of available interleukin 7. Treatment with interleukin 7 leads to a reversal...