Hassall's corpuscles

Hassall 's corpuscles (Latin Corpuscula thymi ) are round, layered conglomerations of several reticular cells in a normal thymus. They are especially to be found in Thymusmark. The reticular cells show in the center of the Hassall's corpuscle signs of degeneration and cell death. They are formed during embryonic development from the ectoderm and undergo similar cell differentiation as cells of the epidermis; in them therefore could keratin and Präkeratin be detected.

The function of Hassall 's corpuscles is unclear, and its presence and morphology varies greatly between different species; in thymus of mice example, they are not present. Their number increases until puberty, thereafter to disappear with the removal of the thymus to the retrosternal fat body. You can calcify inside or cystic degeneration. They may play a role in the removal of apoptotic thymocytes or in the maturation of T- lymphocytes, as they contain the cytokine TSLP ( thymic stromal lymphopoietin ).

The Hassall 's corpuscles are named after their discoverer, the English physician, microbiologist and chemist Arthur Hill Hassall, who in 1846 first described.

Swell

• Alfred Benninghoff (ed.): Macroscopic and microscopic anatomy of man, 14th edition 1985, Volume 2, p 644 ISBN 3-541-00252-2