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Expression of cell cycle and apoptosis regulators in thymus and thymic epithelial tumors

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Abstract

The human thymus supports the production of self-tolerant T cells with competent and regulatory functions. Various cellular components of the thymic microenvironment such as thymic epithelial cells (TEC) and dendritic cells play essential roles in thymic T cell differentiation. The multiple cellular events occurring during thymic T cell and TEC differentiation involve proteins regulating cell cycle and apoptosis. Dysregulation of the cell cycle and apoptosis networks is involved in the pathogenesis of thymic epithelial tumors (TET) which are divided into two broad categories, thymomas and thymic carcinomas. The present review focuses on the usefulness of the analysis of the expression patterns of major cell cycle and apoptosis regulators in order to gain insight in the histophysiology of thymus and the histopathology, the clinical behavior and the biology of TET.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece

    Alexandra Papoudou-Bai

  2. Department of Anatomy-Histology-Embryology, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece

    Alexandra Papoudou-Bai, Alexandra Barbouti, Vassiliki Galani & Panagiotis Kanavaros

  3. Department of Pathology, Agia Sophia Children’s Hospital, Athens, Greece

    Kalliopi Stefanaki

  4. Department of Pathology, Evangelismos Hospital, Athens, Greece

    Dimitra Rontogianni

  5. Departments of Pathology and Anatomy, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece

    Alexandra Papoudou-Bai & Panagiotis Kanavaros

Authors
  1. Alexandra Papoudou-Bai
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  2. Alexandra Barbouti
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  3. Vassiliki Galani
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  4. Kalliopi Stefanaki
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  5. Dimitra Rontogianni
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  6. Panagiotis Kanavaros
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Correspondence to Alexandra Papoudou-Bai or Panagiotis Kanavaros.

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Papoudou-Bai, A., Barbouti, A., Galani, V. et al. Expression of cell cycle and apoptosis regulators in thymus and thymic epithelial tumors. Clin Exp Med 16, 147–159 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10238-015-0344-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10238-015-0344-7

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