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Single-cell transcriptional profiling of human thymic stroma uncovers novel cellular heterogeneity in the thymic medulla.

Citation
Bautista, J. L., et al. “Single-Cell Transcriptional Profiling Of Human Thymic Stroma Uncovers Novel Cellular Heterogeneity In The Thymic Medulla.”. Nature Communications, p. 1096.
Author Jhoanne L Bautista, Nathan T Cramer, Corey N Miller, Jessica Chavez, David I Berrios, Lauren E Byrnes, Joe Germino, Vasilis Ntranos, Julie B Sneddon, Trevor D Burt, James M Gardner, Chun J Ye, Mark S Anderson, Audrey Parent V
Abstract

The thymus' key function in the immune system is to provide the necessary environment for the development of diverse and self-tolerant T lymphocytes. While recent evidence suggests that the thymic stroma is comprised of more functionally distinct subpopulations than previously appreciated, the extent of this cellular heterogeneity in the human thymus is not well understood. Here we use single-cell RNA sequencing to comprehensively profile the human thymic stroma across multiple stages of life. Mesenchyme, pericytes and endothelial cells are identified as potential key regulators of thymic epithelial cell differentiation and thymocyte migration. In-depth analyses of epithelial cells reveal the presence of ionocytes as a medullary population, while the expression of tissue-specific antigens is mapped to different subsets of epithelial cells. This work thus provides important insight on how the diversity of thymic cells is established, and how this heterogeneity contributes to the induction of immune tolerance in humans.

Year of Publication
2021
Journal
Nature communications
Volume
12
Issue
1
Number of Pages
1096
Date Published
12/2021
ISSN Number
2041-1723
DOI
10.1038/s41467-021-21346-6
Alternate Journal
Nat Commun
PMID
33597545
PMCID
PMC7889611
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