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The microanatomy and ultrastructure of the developing thymus in the hamster

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / Recent experimental work has indicated that the thymus in late fetal and early neonatal life plays a major role in the development of mechanisms of immunity. To date, however, no study of the ultrastructure of the prenatal thymus has been reported in the literature, and histochemical and cytochemical studies of this early period are fragmentary. Therefore, in an effort to extend present knowledge of thymic differentiation and function during its early development, the thymus in the golden hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) was studied by selected histochemical methods and by electron microscopy from 9 1/2 days post coitum through 24 hours post partum.
Histochemical techniques for the light microscopy included the periodic acid-Schiff technique with salivary digestion control for glycogen, the methyl green-pyronin technique as an indicator for protein synthesis, the sudan black B technique for determination of total unbound lipid, the Nile blue and oil r ed 0 techniques for deter mination of neutral lipid, and the Elftman t echnique for determination of phospholipid.
Material was prepared for electron microscopy by fixation for one hour in l% osmium tetroxide (Millonig, 1963), dehydration in graded acetones followed by propylene oxide, and embedding in Maraglas epoxy resin (Freeman and Spurlock, 1962).
Grids prepared from these specimens were stained either with 1% phosphotungstic acid in 95% alcohol, or with lead citrate (Reynolds, 1963). They were scanned with either an R.C.A. EMU 2-B electron microscope or a Siemens Elmiskop I.
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Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/35568
Date January 1965
CreatorsWeakley, Brenda Shaw
PublisherBoston University
Source SetsBoston University
Languageen_US
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis/Dissertation
RightsCopyright by Brenda Shaw Weakley 1965

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