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Growth Hormone and Its Receptor Are Expressed in Human Thymic Cells¹

INSERM U-344, Endocrinologie Moleculaire (V.d.M.-C., J.-C.S., M.-C. P.-V.), and Universite Paris V, CNRS URA 1461, Hopital Necker (V.d.M.-C., M.-C.G., M.D.), Paris, France; the Laboratory on Thymus Research, Department Of Immunology, Foundation Oswaldo Cruz (W.S.), Rio De Janeiro, Brazil; and the Department of Medicine, Ludwig Maximilians Universität (C.J.S.), Munich, Germany

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Dr. Marie-Catherine Postel-Vinay, INSERM U-344, Endocrinologie Moléculaire, Faculté Necker Enfants Malades, 156 rue de Vaugirard, 75015 Paris, France. E-mail: postel-vinay{at}necker.fr

GH has been shown to modulate various functions of the thymus. We now demonstrate the production of human GH (hGH) by human thymic cells, and the expression of GH receptors in thymic epithelial cells (TEC) and in thymocytes at different stages of differentiation. The presence of hGH messenger RNA was shown by RT-PCR in both human thymocytes and in primary cultures of TEC. Moreover, immunoreactive hGH material was detected in culture media of thymocytes and TEC with the use of a sensitive immunoradiometric assay. GH receptor gene expression was shown in TEC in primary cultures and in fetal and postnatal TEC lines as well as in thymocytes. By immunocytochemistry, the presence of GH receptors in the various TEC preparations was confirmed. In cytofluorometric studies with the use of a biotinylated anti-GH receptor monoclonal antibody, we could show that GH receptors are predominantly expressed by immature thymocytes: over 90% of CD3^- CD4^- CD8^- CD19^- CD34⁺ CD2⁺ cells (a phenotype characterizing the most immature T cell progenitors in the thymus) were GH receptor positive. Our results provide a molecular basis for an autocrine/paracrine mode of action of GH in the human thymus.

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