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Updated: May 23, 2025

Author Spotlight: Advancing Thymic Epithelial Cells and T-Cell Research with Human Thymic Organoids
Published on: October 4, 2024
Thymus Ontogeny and Development
Sara Montero-Herradón1,2, Javier García-Ceca1,2, Agustín G Zapata3,4
1Department of Cell Biology. Faculty of Biological Sciences, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
Abstract:
The thymus is a primary lymphoid organ composed of a three-dimensional (3D) epithelial network that provides a specialized microenvironment for the phenotypical and functional maturation of lymphoid progenitors. The specification of the pharyngeal endoderm to thymus fate occurs during the early stages of thymic organogenesis, independent of the expression of the transcription factor Foxn1. However, Foxn1 governs the later organogenesis of thymus together with the colonizing lymphoid cells. In the present chapter, we will review recent evidence on the topic covered in our original chapter (Muñoz and Zapata 2019). It described the early development of thymus and its resemblance to the development of endoderm-derived epithelial organs based on tubulogenesis and branching morphogenesis as well as the molecules known to be involved in these processes.
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