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Promoting Thymopoiesis With Age: Potential Role Of The Transcription Factor Foxn1, Erin Christine Zook
Promoting Thymopoiesis With Age: Potential Role Of The Transcription Factor Foxn1, Erin Christine Zook
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It is known that the elderly are more susceptible to illnesses and infections and respond poorly to immunization. A contributing factor to a decrease in the immune response in the elderly is the decline in the production of naïve T cell by the thymus. In the thymus, the notch receptor expressed on early T cell progenitors (ETP) binds to its ligand expressed on thymic epithelial cells (TEC), signaling ETP to develop through a series of developmental stages before maturing into naive T cells. Because ETP are non-self renewing, the thymus relies on the bone marrow (BM) for a continuous supply …