The existence of a functional link between the nervous and
immune systems has been well established. The present study was to characterize the expression of p75NTR during
thymus regeneration from acute involution induced by
cyclophosphamide in the
rat . Immunohistochemical and double
immunofluorescence analyses demonstrated that expression of the p75NTR was decreased in the thymic medullary
epithelial cells and
interdigitating dendritic cells during
thymus regeneration . The presence of p75NTR
protein in extracts from the control and regenerating
rat thymus was confirmed by
western blot . Furthermore, RT-PCR
analysis supported these results by demonstrating that thymic extracts contain p75NTR
mRNA at lower levels during
thymus regeneration . Thus, our results suggest that the p75NTR located on the thymic medullary
epithelial cells and
interdigitating dendritic cells could
play a
role in the development of new
T cells to replace the
thymocytes damaged during
thymus regeneration