Reduced expression of CD99 and functional disturbance in anencephalic cortical thymocytes.

In a significant proportion of cases, anencephaly is associated with thymic enlargement, suggesting a possibility that anencephalic fetuses have a functional disturbance in thymocyte differentiation and development. In this report, we demonstrated that CD99 expression was consistently reduced in cortical thymocytes of all anencephalic fetuses. In addition, the CD99-dependent aggregation of immature cortical thymocytes was almost completely impaired and apoptosis of thymocytes was markedly reduced in several cases. These results are in agreement with previous findings that CD99 regulates the aggregation and apoptosis of various types of cells. These data strongly suggest that functional disturbance of thymocytes and thymic hyperplasia are related to the reduced expression of CD99 molecule in anencephalic fetuses.