Larval Thymectomy of Xenopus laevis
- 1Comparative Immunogenetics Laboratory, Department of Veternary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843
- 2Department of Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology, College of Medicine, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843
- ↵3Correspondence: mcriscitiello{at}cvm.tamu.edu
Abstract
In jawed vertebrates from sharks to mammals, the thymus is the primary (or central) lymphoid tissue where T cells develop and mature. The particular stromal cell types, cytokine environment, and tissue organization in the thymus are essential for V(D)J recombination, positive selection for major histocompatibility complex recognition, and negative selection against self-peptide recognition of most αβ T cells. The thymectomy operation on Xenopus tadpole larva described here creates a T-cell–deficient model suitable for many immunology studies.
Footnotes
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From the Xenopus collection, edited by Hazel L. Sive.
