Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 10, 2026

Formation of Human Thymus Organoids in Three-Dimensional Fibrin Hydrogels
Published on: October 4, 2024
Polymorphism of Hassall's corpuscles in thymus of human fetuses
Adil Asghar1, Yunus M Syed, Faruqi A Nafis
1Department of Anatomy, HIMSR, New Delhi, Anatomy, India.
Background:
Hassall's corpuscles (HC) are commonly used as diagnostic features for identifying human thymus and are still present in thymuses undergoing fatty degeneration in young adults. However, few studies have been performed on human fetuses.
Aim:
A cross-sectional study was done, to study the morphology of HC in human fetuses.
Materials And Methods:
Twenty-eight thymuses were collected from fetuses of gestational age ranging from 11 to 40 weeks. Thymuses were processed by paraffin embedding methods and hematoxylin and eosin staining.
Results:
The size of HC varied from very small (100 microns) to very large corpuscles (> 900 microns). A high level of polymorphism was also observed, from round to unusual or odd shapes corpuscles. The degenerated reticulo-epithelial cells represented the starting point in HC formation. The growth of HC was rapid, especially near 28 weeks, and the level of HC polymorphism was significantly greater after 28 weeks of gestation. In advanced stages of gestation, the increase in size of some corpuscles reduced the spaces between them, and some patterns strongly supported the hypothesis that some HC had fused in a single and larger corpuscle.
Conclusion:
The rapid rise in number and size of HC around 28 weeks of gestation would fit with their role in the negative selection process of thymocytes.
More Related Videos
06:473D Organotypic Co-culture Model Supporting Medullary Thymic Epithelial Cell Proliferation, Differentiation and Promiscuous Gene Expression
Published on: July 30, 2015
08:56Characterization of Thymic Settling Progenitors in the Mouse Embryo Using In Vivo and In Vitro Assays
Published on: June 9, 2015
Related Concept Videos
Development of Immunocompetence
The initial cells that migrate from the fetal thymus settle within the skin and epithelial tissues lining the mouth, digestive tract, and in females, the uterus and vagina. These cells, including skin-based dendritic cells, serve as antigen-presenting cells, playing a key role in T cell activation.
Subsequent T...
Transcytosis of IgG
IgG molecules from a mother undergo transcytosis starting around 13 weeks of gestation. The amount of IgG transferred and entering the fetal blood circulation increases with...
Development of the Sexual Organs in the Embryo and Fetus
Near the gonadal ridges, two duct systems are present: the mesonephric ducts (Wolffian ducts) and paramesonephric ducts (Müllerian ducts). These ducts form the basis for the male...
Multipotency and Niche of Bulge Stem Cell
Pleiotropy