Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31562306›Full record

ArticleNature communications2019

Dynamic changes in epithelial cell morphology control thymic organ size during atrophy and regeneration.

Thomas Venables, Ann V Griffith, Alice DeAraujo, Howard T Petrie

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 50 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
50citing papers in PubMed
3.1field-weighted citation impact, top 8% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

50 citing papers in PubMed, 70 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Thymic regeneration and tumor immunotherapy.Frontiers in immunology · 2026
    Review
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Basic interactions responsible for thymus function explain the convoluted medulla shape.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  15. Review
  16. FGF21 keeps the thymus young.Nature aging · 2025
    Article
  17. Article
  18. Review
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Thomas VenablesThe Scripps Research Institute, 130 Scripps Way, Jupiter, FL, 33458, USA.
Ann V GriffithThe Scripps Research Institute, 130 Scripps Way, Jupiter, FL, 33458, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5345-0222
Alice DeAraujoThe Scripps Research Institute, 130 Scripps Way, Jupiter, FL, 33458, USA.
Howard T PetrieThe Scripps Research Institute, 130 Scripps Way, Jupiter, FL, 33458, USA. htpetrie@gmail.com.
Scripps Research Institute · US

Funding

Visualizing epithelial network connectivity in thymus biology, aging, and regenerationR01AI130303 · NIAID · SCRIPPS FLORIDA · PI CAI, DAWEN, PETRIE, HOWARD T. · 2017 to 2019
$1.4M
NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI130303
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

T lymphocytes must be produced throughout life, yet the thymus, where T lymphocytes are made, exhibits accelerated atrophy with age. Even in advanced atrophy, however, the thymus remains plastic, and can be regenerated by appropriate stimuli. Logically, thymic atrophy is thought to reflect senescent cell death, while regeneration requires proliferation of stem or progenitor cells, although evidence is scarce. Here we use conditional reporters to show that accelerated thymic atrophy reflects contraction of complex cell projections unique to cortical epithelial cells, while regeneration requires their regrowth. Both atrophy and regeneration are independent of changes in epithelial cell number, suggesting that the size of the thymus is regulated primarily by rate-limiting morphological changes in cortical stroma, rather than by their cell death or proliferation. Our data also suggest that cortical epithelial morphology is under the control of medullary stromal signals, revealing a previously unrecognized endocrine-paracrine signaling axis in the thymus.

Indexed as

AnimalsAtrophyEpithelial CellsGene Expression ProfilingGene OntologyMice, Inbred C57BLMice, KnockoutMice, TransgenicMicroscopy, ConfocalOrgan SizeRegenerationStromal CellsThymus GlandT-Lymphocytes

Identifiers

PMID31562306
PMCPMC6765001
OpenAlexW2976494342

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.