Armengol and colleagues1 document the structural characteristics and functional
competence of ectopic germinal centers (GCs) in autoimmune thyroid disease. An
immunohistochemical dissection of the microarchitecture of intrathyroidal lymphoid follicles
identified them as analogs of follicular structures found in secondary lymphoid tissues.
Morphological studies were complemented by carefully chosen molecular studies that
probed the competence of the GCs. Cell proliferation and apoptosis in the ectopic lymphoid …