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HORMONAL CONTROL OF T‑CELL DEVELOPMENT IN HEALTH AND DISEASE
Affilliation
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Pesquisa sobre o Timo. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Pesquisa sobre o Timo. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Pesquisa sobre o Timo. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Université Paris Descartes. Hôpital Necker, CNRS UMR 8147. Paris, France.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Pesquisa sobre o Timo. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Pesquisa sobre o Timo. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Université Paris Descartes. Hôpital Necker, CNRS UMR 8147. Paris, France.
Abstract
The physiology of the thymus, the primary lymphoid organ in which T cells are
generated, is controlled by hormones. Data from animal models indicate that several peptide
and nonpeptide hormones act pleiotropically within the thymus to modulate the
proliferation, differentiation, migration and death by apoptosis of developing thymocytes.
For example, growth hormone and prolactin can enhance thymocyte proliferation and
migration, whereas glucocorticoids lead to the apoptosis of these developing cells. The
thymus undergoes progressive age-dependent atrophy with a loss of cells being generated
and exported, therefore, hormone-based therapies are being developed as an alternative
strategy to rejuvenate the organ, as well as to augment thymocyte proliferation and the
export of mature T cells to peripheral lymphoid organs. Some hormones (such as growth
hormone and progonadoliberin-1) are also being used as therapeutic agents to treat
immunodeficiency disorders associated with thymic atrophy, such as HIV infection. In this
Review, we discuss the accumulating data that shows the thymus gland is under complex
and multifaceted hormonal control that affects the process of T-cell development in
health and disease.
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