Hypothalamus Hypothalamus The hypothalamus is a portion of the brain that contains a number of small nuclei with a variety of functions. One of the most important functions of the hypothalamus is to link the nervous system to the endocrine system via the pituitary gland. The hypothalamus is located below the thalamus and is part of the limbic system. In the terminology of neuroanatomy, it forms the ventral part of the diencephalon. All vertebrate brains contain a hypothalamus. In humans, it is the size of an almond. The hypothalamus is responsible for the regulation of certain metabolic processes and other activities
Antigen transfer in the thymus in thymic medulla, namely clonal deletion ("recessive tolerance") and T Regulatory cells selection ("dominant tolerance") which force autoreactive T cells to apoptosis or skew them into suppressor T regulatory cells (TRegs), respectively, in order to protect body against manifestations of autoimmunity. These processes are mediated especially by unique subset of stromal cells called Medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs) via presentation of Tissue restricted antigens (TRAs) that represent self tissues from almost all parts of the body. mTECs are not only capable to present TRAs as efficient APCs. They are also potent in production of these TRAs via unique process called