ISSN:
0003-276X
Keywords:
Life and Medical Sciences
;
Cell & Developmental Biology
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Some aspects of the basic histological features of the thymus are still not adequately known. The architecture of the heterogeneous organ, like the thymus, can be revealed by a tridimensional reconstruction only. We carried out such reconstruction of the cortex, medulla and network of interlobular septa of the rat thymus. The serial sections of a 10-week-old and of a 5-day-old thymus were projected on a cardboard of a thickness proportional to the magnification of the projection. The outlines of the three studied components were traced and cut off. The superposition of the similar cut-offs yielded a model of each of the three thymic components. The models demonstrated that the current description of the organ is not thoroughly realistic. It was found that there exists bridges of cortex crossing the medulla, whereas buds of medulla are present in the area generally occupied by the cortex. The relationship between the medulla and the cortex is more intricate than currently described. The results revealed that the interlobular septa do not form a network of more or less regular walls designed to divide a lobe into comparable lobules. Instead, this network is irregular, being related to the pathway of the main intrathymic blood vessels.
Additional Material:
6 Ill.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ar.1091790412
