. Early thymic T cell development in young transgenic mice overexpressing human Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase, a model of Down syndrome.: Early thymic development in SOD1 transgenic mice.. Free Radical Biology and Medicine, Elsevier, 2006Elsevier, , 40 (11), pp.1971Elsevier, -1980
ABSTRACTPrevious studies have shown that transgenic mice over-expressing Cu/Zn Superoxide dismutase, a model of Down's syndrome, exhibit premature thymic involution. We have performed an extensive multiparametric flow cytometry analysis of the developing thymus in these homozygous transgenic mice (hSOD1/hSOD1: Tg-SOD). Longitudinal follow-up analysis from day 3 to day 280 showed an early thymic development in Tg-SOD mice as compared with controls. This thymic early development was associated with an increased migration of mature T cells to peripheral lymphoid organs. BrdU labeling showed no difference between Tg-SOD and control mice, confirming that the greater number of peripheral T cells in Tg-SOD mice was not due to extensive proliferation of these cells but rather to a greater pool of emigrant T cells in Tg-SOD.