CoNTENTS
Abbreviations 12
Chapter 1 Somatostatin receptor in the immune system 15
I.1 Introduction 16
1.2 Neuropeptides and their receptors in the immune system 20
1.3 Somatostatin and somatostatin receptor subtypes 30
1.4 Distribution, role and function of somatostatin receptors 43
in llrunune cells in health and disease
1.5 Aim of the thesis 56
Chapter II Somatostatin receptors in the normal human thymus 59
II. 1 The thymus, general introduction 60
II.2 The thymus, an interface between the neuroendocrine and 71
the immune systems
II.3 Somatostatin receptors in the thymus 79
II.4 In vitro characterization of somatostatin receptors in the 86
hwnan thymus and effects of somatostatin and octreotide
on cultured thymic epithelial cells
II.5 Quantitative and functional expression of somatostatin 105
receptor subtypes in human thymocytes
II.6 Age-related decrease of somatostatin receptor expression 125
in the normal human thymus
Chapter III Somatostatin receptors in thymic twnors 141
IIl.l Somatostatin receptor scintigraphy 142
III.2 Thymic epithelial tumors 146
III.3 Somatostatin receptor subtypes in human thymoma and 153
inhibition of cell proliferation by octreotide in vitm
IDA In viw detection and in vitro localization of somatostatin
receptors in human thymic tumors: preliminaty study on
14 cases
III.5 Immunohistochemical localization and quantltallve
expression of somatostatin receptors in human spleen,
thymus and thymoma
Chapter N General discussion
Summaty
Samenvatting
Riassunto
Acknowledgments
Curriculum vitae
Publications
170
183
203
219
223
228
235
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