Generation of a functional, patient specific human thymus from induced pluripotent stem cell in vivo
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ABSTRACT:
ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus Homo sapiens
PROVIDER: GSE148495 | GEO | 2021/09/24
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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Project description:Thymic epithelial cells (TECs) support T cell development in the thymus. Cortical thymic epithelial cells (cTECs) facilitate positive selection of developing thymocytes whereas medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs) facilitate the deletion of self-reactive thymocytes in order to prevent autoimmunity. The mTEC compartment is highly dynamic with continuous maturation and turnover, but the genetic regulation of these processes remains poorly understood. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of TEC genetic programs since miRNA-deficient TECs are severely defective. However, the individual miRNAs important for TEC maintenance and function and their mechanisms of action remain unknown. Here, we demonstrate that miR-205 is highly and preferentially expressed in mTECs during both thymic ontogeny and in the postnatal thymus. This distinct expression is suggestive of functional importance for TEC biology. Genetic ablation of miR-205 in TECs, however, neither revealed a role for miR-205 in TEC function during homeostatic conditions nor during recovery from thymic stress conditions. Thus, despite its distinct expression, miR-205 on its own is largely dispensable for mTEC biology. In order to identify miRNAs differentially expressed in mTECs, we purified cortical thymic epithelial cells (cTECs), mTECs and CD45+ cells as three distinct populations and prepared RNA for microarray analysis. Thymic subsets were FACS-purified from 4-week old NOD wildtype mice. Thymi from 10-12 female mice were pooled together for stromal cell isolation for a total of 3 CD45+, 2 cTEC and 3 mTEC biologic replicates.
2015-07-28 | E-GEOD-68674 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Stress-induced thymic involution is defined by profound damage to thymic epithelial cells (TECs), resulting in an acute and transient reduction of thymopoietic capacity. During pregnancy, thymic involution is not associated with TEC loss but rather with TEC quality modifications. Study of the mechanisms of TEC maintenance during pregnancy may be of critical importance for identifying new players for thymic regeneration in other models of thymic involution. We report a strong enrichment for motifs recognized by KLF4 based on genes differentially expressed in TECs of pregnant females. Therefore, we studied the impact of Klf4 deletion in TECs during pregnancy by analyzing thymus composition and TEC transcriptome. Conditional Klf4 deletion in homeostatic conditions does not injure thymic integrity. However, pregnant females lacking Klf4 show a disrupted thymus with substantial loss of thymic epithelial cells. Klf4 maintains cTEC number during pregnancy by maintaining cell survival and inhibiting the transition to a mesenchymal state. Our study reveals Klf4 as a protective factor for TECs during pregnancy-associated thymic involution and represents a potential study subject for other models of stress-induced thymic involution.
2022-09-30 | GSE210885 | GEO
Project description:Thymic epithelial cells (TECs) support T cell development in the thymus. Cortical thymic epithelial cells (cTECs) facilitate positive selection of developing thymocytes whereas medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs) facilitate the deletion of self-reactive thymocytes in order to prevent autoimmunity. The mTEC compartment is highly dynamic with continuous maturation and turnover, but the genetic regulation of these processes remains poorly understood. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of TEC genetic programs since miRNA-deficient TECs are severely defective. However, the individual miRNAs important for TEC maintenance and function and their mechanisms of action remain unknown. Here, we demonstrate that miR-205 is highly and preferentially expressed in mTECs during both thymic ontogeny and in the postnatal thymus. This distinct expression is suggestive of functional importance for TEC biology. Genetic ablation of miR-205 in TECs, however, neither revealed a role for miR-205 in TEC function during homeostatic conditions nor during recovery from thymic stress conditions. Thus, despite its distinct expression, miR-205 on its own is largely dispensable for mTEC biology.
2015-07-28 | GSE68674 | GEO
Project description:In the earliest step of thymic organogenesis, mesenchymal cells support the growth of thymic epithelial cells (TECs). It is established that TECs and thymocytes influence each other for their growth/differentiation, a process called thymic crosstalk. However, little is known about the influence of developing thymocytes or TECs on mesenchymal cells. Here, we show that during normal thymus development fibroblast ingrowth occurs towards hypoxic areas. Similar overgrowth of mesenchymal cells is seen in a fetal thymic organ culture system under low oxygen conditions. However, when thymocytes were depleted by deoxyguanosine treatment, mesenchymal cells were also induced, precluding the direct effect of hypoxia. In the fetal thymus of hCD3εTg mice, which lack T lineage cells, an overgrowth of mesenchymal cells can be seen at a very early stage of thymic organogenesis. The growth of the mesenchymal cells is due to extensive proliferation and not mere enrichment. With RNA sequencing analysis comparing hCD3εTg with wild type TECs, we identified candidate factors that could be involved in mesenchymal network formation.
2017-08-19 | GSE60520 | GEO
Project description:The goal of this study was to document the gene expression profile of FOXN1+ thymic endoderm cells derived from the in vitro differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells. Thymic epithelial cells (TECs) play a critical role in T-cell maturation and tolerance induction. The generation of TECs from in vitro differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) would provide a platform for studying the mechanisms of this interaction and have implications for immune reconstitution. To facilitate analysis of PSC-derived TECs, we generated human embryonic stem cell (hESC) reporter lines in which sequences encoding GFP were targeted to FOXN1, a gene required for TEC development. Using this FOXN1GFP/w line as a read out, we developed a reproducible protocol for generating FOXN1-GFP+ thymic endoderm cells. Transcriptional profiling and flow cytometry identified Integrin-β4 (ITGB4, CD104) and HLA-DR as markers that could be used in combination with EpCAM to selectively purify FOXN1+ TEC progenitors from differentiating cultures of unmanipulated PSCs. Human FOXN1+ TEC progenitors generated from PSCs will facilitate the study of thymus biology and are a valuable resource for future applications in regenerative medicine Human embryonic stem cells were differentiated for 30 days using the protocol described by Soh et al, 2014. The hESCs used in this protocol had been genetically modified by targeting sequences encoding GFP to the FOXN1 locus, thus enabling FOXN1 expressing cells to be identified on the basis of GFP expression. At differentiation day 30, differentiating cells were separated into three fractions using FACS. These fractions were the FOXN1+(GFP+)EpCAM+, FOXN1-(GFP-)EpCAM+, FOXN1-(GFP-)EpCAM-.
2014-05-01 | E-GEOD-56373 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Thymic epithelium is critical for the structural integrity of the thymus and for T cell development. Within the fully formed thymus, large numbers of hematopoietic cells shape the thymic epithelium into a scaffold-like structure which bears little similarity to classical epithelial layers, such as those observed in the skin, intestine or pancreas. Here, we show that human thymic epithelial cells (TECs) possess an epithelial identity that also incorporates the expression of mesenchymal cell associated genes, whose expression levels vary between medullary and cortical TECs (m/cTECs). Using pluripotent stem cell (PSC) differentiation systems, we identified a unique population of cells that co-expressed the master TEC transcription factor FOXN1, as well as the epithelial associated marker EPCAM and the mesenchymal associated gene CD90. Using the same serum free culture conditions, we also observed co-expression of EPCAM and CD90 on cultured TECs derived from neonatal human thymus in vitro. Single cell RNA-sequencing revealed these cultured TECs possessed an immature mTEC phenotype and expressed epithelial and mesenchymal associated genes, such as EPCAM, CLDN4, CD90 and COL1A1. Importantly, flow cytometry and single cell RNA-sequencing analysis further confirmed the presence of an EPCAM+CD90+ population in the CD45- fraction of neonatal human thymic stromal cells in vivo. Using the human thymus cell atlas, we found that cTECs displayed more pronounced mesenchymal characteristics than mTECs during embryonic development. Collectively, these results suggest human TECs possess a hybrid gene expression program comprising both epithelial and mesenchymal elements, and provide a basis for the further exploration of thymus development from primary tissues and from the in vitro differentiation of PSCs.
2022-02-28 | GSE196005 | GEO
Project description:Thymic epithelial cells (TECs) are essential for thymopoiesis and form a complex three-dimensional network, the organization of which is strikingly different from other epithelia. Interestingly, TECs express simple epithelia keratins in the cortex, stratified epithelia keratins in the medulla and epidermal differentiation markers in Hassall's bodies. Here we investigate the relationship between thymic epithelium and epidermal differentiation and show that the thymus of the rat contains a population of clonogenic TECs that can be extensively cultured and cloned using conditions developed for epidermal cell therapy in human. Clonogenic TECs conserve a thymic identity and the capacity to integrate in a thymic epithelial network, but they acquire new functionalities when exposed to an inductive skin microenvironment, permanently adopting the fate of hair follicle multipotent stem cells. This change in fate, maintained over time in serial transplantation, correlates with a down-regulation of transcription factors important for thymic identity, and an up-regulation of epidermal markers. Consequently, the TECs’ capacity to integrate in a thymic epithelial network is altered or even lost. Our results demonstrate that the thymus contains a population of holoclone-like epithelial cells that can function as bona fide multipotent keratinocyte stem cells, and that microenvironmental cues are sufficient to re-direct epithelial-cell fate, allowing crossing of primitive germ layer boundaries from endoderm to ectoderm. Keywords: Cell type comparison
2010-08-23 | GSE21686 | GEO
Project description:Here we constructed a single-cell transcriptional landscape of non-hematopoietic cells from mouse thymus spanning embryonic and adult stages, producing transcriptomes of 30,959 TECs. We resolved transcriptional heterogeneity of developing TECs, and highlighted the molecular nature of early TEC lineage determination and cortico-medullary thymic epithelial cell lineage divergency.
2022-03-17 | GSE192480 | GEO
Project description:Purpose: In all vertebrates, the thymus is necessary and sufficient for production of classic adaptive T cells. The key components of the thymus are cortical and medullary thymic epithelial cells (cTECs and mTECs). Despite the capital role of TECs, our understanding of TEC biology is quite rudimentary. For instance, we ignore what might be the extent of divergence in the functional program of these two TECs populations. It also remains unclear why the number of TECs decreases rapidly with age, thereby leading to progressive thymic insufficiency. Methods: Systems level understanding of cell function begins with gene expression profiling, and the transcriptome is currently the only '-ome' that can be reliably tackled in its entirety in freshly harvested primary cells. In order to gain novel insights into TEC biology, we therefore decided to analyse the whole transcriptome of cTECs, mTECs and skin epithelial cells. We elected to analyse gene expression using RNA-seq rather microarrays because RNA-seq has higher sensitivity and dynamic range coupled to lower technical variations. Results: Our deep sequencing approach provides a unique perspective into the transcriptome of TECs. Consistent with their ability to express ectopic genes, we found that mTECs expressed more genes than other cell populations. Out of a total of 15,069 genes expressed in TECs, 25% were differentially expressed by at least 5-fold in cTECs vs. mTECs. Genes expressed at higher levels in cTECs than mTECs regulate numerous cell functions including cell differentiation, cell movement and microtubule dynamics. Almost all positive regulators of the cell cycle were overexpressed in skin ECs relative to TECs. Conclusions: Our RNA-seq data provide novel insights into the transcriptional landscape of TECs, highlight substantial divergences in the transcriptome of TEC subsets and suggest that cell cycle progression is differentially regulated in TECS and skinECs. We believe that our work will therefore represent a valuable resource and will be of great interest to readers working in biological sciences, particularly in the areas of immunology and systems biology. The mRNA profiles of cTEC, mTEC (from 14 thymi of 7-days old C57BL/6 mice) and skinEC (from the trunk and dorsum of seven newborn mice) were generated by RNA-sequencing using Illumina HiSeq2000.
2013-05-07 | E-GEOD-44945 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:The goal of this study was to document the gene expression profile of FOXN1+ thymic endoderm cells derived from the in vitro differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells. Thymic epithelial cells (TECs) play a critical role in T-cell maturation and tolerance induction. The generation of TECs from in vitro differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) would provide a platform for studying the mechanisms of this interaction and have implications for immune reconstitution. To facilitate analysis of PSC-derived TECs, we generated human embryonic stem cell (hESC) reporter lines in which sequences encoding GFP were targeted to FOXN1, a gene required for TEC development. Using this FOXN1GFP/w line as a read out, we developed a reproducible protocol for generating FOXN1-GFP+ thymic endoderm cells. Transcriptional profiling and flow cytometry identified Integrin-β4 (ITGB4, CD104) and HLA-DR as markers that could be used in combination with EpCAM to selectively purify FOXN1+ TEC progenitors from differentiating cultures of unmanipulated PSCs. Human FOXN1+ TEC progenitors generated from PSCs will facilitate the study of thymus biology and are a valuable resource for future applications in regenerative medicine
2014-05-01 | GSE56373 | GEO