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* Molecular Immunology and
Developmental Neurobiology, National Institute for Medical Research;
Centre Development in Stem Cell Biology, Institute for Stem Cell Research, School of Biological Sciences University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh; and
Immunology and Infection Unit, Department of Biology, University of York and The Hull York Medical School, York, United Kingdom; and
¶ Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Biomedicine, Department of Tissue Morphogenesis, and University of Münster, Faculty of Medicine, Münster, Germany
Neural crest (NC)-derived mesenchyme has previously been shown to play an important role in the development of fetal thymus. Using Wnt1-Cre and Sox10-Cre mice crossed to Rosa26eYfp reporter mice, we have revealed NC-derived mesenchymal cells in the adult murine thymus. We report that NC-derived cells infiltrate the thymus before day 13.5 of embryonic development (E13.5) and differentiate into cells with characteristics of smooth muscle cells associated with large vessels, and pericytes associated with capillaries. In the adult organ at 3 mo of age, these NC-derived perivascular cells continue to be associated with the vasculature, providing structural support to the blood vessels and possibly regulating endothelial cell function.
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1 This work was supported by the Medical Research Council. H.V.-F. and K.F. are supported by a grant from the European Union (LSHG-CT-2003-503259). R.A. is supported by Cancer Research U.K. C.B. and J.S. are supported by the Leukemia Research Fund, the European Union, and the Medical Research Council.
2 Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Dimitris Kioussis, Division of Molecular Immunology, National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London, NW7 1AA, U.K. E-mail address: dkiouss{at}nimr.mrc.ac.uk or Dr. Mark Coles, Immunology and Infection Unit Department of Biology, University of York and The Hull York Medical School, P.O. Box 373, York, YO10 5YW, U.K. E-mail address: mc542{at}york.ac.uk
3 Abbreviations used in this paper: VEGF, vascular endothelial growth factor; 
-SMA, -smooth muscle actin; BABB, benzyl alcohol and benzyl benzoate; E10.5–E18.5, days 10.5–18.5 of embryonic development; eYFP, enhanced yellow fluorescent protein; NCC, neural crest cell; NC, neural crest; PDGF, platelet-derived growth factor.
4 The online version of this article contains supplemental material.
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