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Reactivation of immunocompetence in spleen cells of aged mice

Abstract

REACTIVITY in both humoral and cellular immune reactions has been shown to decline with age1–4, but the reasons have not yet been critically established. It could be attributed, at least in part, to thymus involution, since the most prominent reduction in reactivity is shown in thymus-dependent responses5. The question is, therefore, whether decreasing immune reactivity results from a decrease in the stem cell pool, or whether it is due to a failure in one of the processes of cell maturation which are affected by the thymus.

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FRIEDMAN, D., KEISER, V. & GLOBERSON, A. Reactivation of immunocompetence in spleen cells of aged mice. Nature 251, 545–547 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1038/251545a0

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