MARROW-THYMUS INTERACTIONS DURING RADIATION LEUKEMOGENESIS IN C57BL-KA MICE

  • 1 January 1981
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 41  (2) , 390-392
Abstract
Transplantation of thymus and bone marrow cells from irradiated C57BL/Ka mice demonstrated the presence of potentially neoplastic cells in the thymus at 30-60 days postirradiation. During the same interval, no such cells were detected in the bone marrow; moreover, the capacity of bone marrow cells to repopulate the thymus was impaired severly. These observations suggest that the primary site of neoplastic transformation in irradiated C57BL/Ka mice is the thymus rather than the bone marrow and that impaired thymic regeneration is a critical step in radiation leukemogenesis in mice.