Restoring T cell production in thymus following injury
Thymus is known to generate broad T cell repertoire in response to diverse stimuli like, infection, stress, pregnancy, malnutrition, drug use and cytoreductive chemotherapy.
Thymus also has a tremendous regenerative capacity. Delay to this recovery after acute damage may have important clinical effects. Multiple distinct pathways of regeneration and the molecular mechanisms that trigger these pathways after damage have been reported recently.
The researchers in this Review, discuss the effects of different types of damage to the thymus, and the cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate endogenous tissue regeneration in the thymus.
They also highlight some of the clinical challenges that are presented by dysregulated thymic regeneration.
