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First published online November 24, 2003
Journal of Experimental Biology 207, 55-65 (2004)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2004
doi: 10.1242/jeb.00710

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Characterization of a novel set of resident intrathyroidal bone marrow-derived hematopoietic cells: potential for immune-endocrine interactions in thyroid homeostasis

John R. Klein^* and Heuy-Ching Wang

Department of Basic Sciences, Dental Branch, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: john.r.klein{at}uth.tmc.edu)

Accepted 9 September 2003

Immunofluorescent staining of thyroid tissues was done using monoclonal antibodies to dendritic cell (DC), lymphocyte, macrophage and granulocyte markers. Despite the presence of occasional CD11c⁺ cells, CD11b⁺ cells, morphologically characteristic of DCs, were abundant in thyroid of normal mice, at a density of 2.0 cells per thyroid follicle, and were >tenfold more frequent than CD11c⁺ cells. Thyroid tissues were non-reactive with antibodies to F4/80, CD8, CD40, CD80, Gr-1, CD3, or CD19, indicating that the CD11b⁺ cells were not macrophages, activated DCs, granulocytes, plasmacytoid DCs, T cells or B cells. Following systemic immune activation, DCs in secondary lymphoid tissues but not in the thyroid, upregulated CD80 expression. Using radiation chimeras made from bone marrow from enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) transgenic mice, EGFP⁺ DC-like cells were present in the thyroid from 1–20 weeks after bone marrow transfer, but were rare in the kidney and liver, although EGFP⁺ cells were present in secondary lymphoid tissues. Additionally, DCs generated from EGFP⁺ bone marrow cells localized in the thyroid of EGFP^– mice following adoptive transfer. Double staining of thyroid tissue sections with antibodies to the thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH)-ß molecule and to CD11b revealed co-expression of TSHß and CD11b among intrathyroidal DCs. Moreover, RT-PCR analyses indicated expression of the TSHß gene in thyroid tissues. These findings define a novel bone marrow-derived hematopoietic cell population that resides in the thyroid of normal mice, which may have a unique role in the microregulation of thyroid physiology and homeostasis.

Key words: immune–endocrine, bone marrow, homeostasis, thyroid

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				J. R. Klein The immune system as a regulator of thyroid hormone activity. Experimental Biology and Medicine, March 1, 2006; 231(3): 229 - 236. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]