Lamprey micrographTHOMAS BOEHM
B. Bajoghli et al., “A thymus candidate in lampreys,” Nature, 470:90-94, 2011. Free F1000 evaluation
Jawless vertebrates such as lampreys and hagfish have an adaptive immune system, with two lymphocyte cell types that resemble T and B cells, despite lacking other hallmarks of adaptive immunity, such as immunoglobulins and MHC. Now, Thomas Boehm at the Max Planck Institute in Freiburg and colleagues, think they have identified a new component of the adaptive immune system: the lamprey thymus.
The lack of a thymus in lampreys was puzzling, as the organ is essential for the final step of T-cell maturation in humans. Do human and lamprey immune systems share a common ancestor, or was the evolution convergent—hitting on a similar solution by chance? Unlike B cells, “T ...
