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Ultrastructure of the developing thymus of the leopard frog (Rana pipiens)

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Summary

A study of the ultrastructure of the developing thymus of the leopard frog (Rana pipiens) revealed that the thymus had undergone all of the major changes which would persist through larval life and metamorphosis by the time that the animals had reached larval stage IV of Taylor and Kollros (1946). These changes included development of an outer, lymphoid cortical region and an inner, essentially nonlymphoid medulla; mitotic activity among lymphoid cell precursors and the formation of the first small lymphocytes; development of complex cysts containing PAS-positive material and the appearance of other signs of secretory activity among epithelial cells of the medulla; and differentiation of large myoid cells containing bundles of striated muscle fibrils. The changes are particularly noteworthy because they first appear during a period in which the animals are known to be developing the capacity to respond immunologically to allografts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy, Albany Medical College, Albany, N. Y., USA

    Sherill K. Curtis

  2. Department of Biology, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

    E. Peter Volpe

  3. Department of Anatomy, Albany Medical College, Albany, N. Y., USA

    Ronald R. Cowden

Authors
  1. Sherill K. Curtis
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  2. E. Peter Volpe
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  3. Ronald R. Cowden
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Supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health number GM-11782 to E.P.V.

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Curtis, S.K., Volpe, E.P. & Cowden, R.R. Ultrastructure of the developing thymus of the leopard frog (Rana pipiens). Z.Zellforsch 127, 323–346 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00306877

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