Thymus Specificity in Lethally Irradiated Mice Treated with Rat Bone Marrow

Abstract

Immunologic and cytologic tests indicate that the thymuses of lethally irradiated mice protected with rat bone marrow are repopulated by rat-type cells. The agglutination tests showed this repopulation of the thymus by donor cells to be 100% complete 30 days after treatment, and the cytologic analysis of dividing cells showed 100% rat-type cells 21 days after treatment. Although the histologic architecture of these thymuses was often normal, recovery of the thymuses in terms of weight was incomplete.