A single cell transcriptome atlas of Human thymic epithelial compartments
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens
PROVIDER: GSE220830 | GEO | 2023/08/30
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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Project description:Purpose: The goal of this study is to characterise the large variety of stromal cells populations, particularly cortex (cTECs) and medullary (mTECs) epithelial cells. It has been speculated that mTECs and cTECs are composed of functionally distinct subsets with different clonogenic potential. Methods: FACS-isolation protocol to separate 4 different epithelial cells populations from total dissociation of human thymus that is negative for hCD45 then loaded into the 10x Genomics Chromium Platform, and sequenced using Illumina HiSeq 4000. Conclusions: Our study dissected common clusters to human thymic epithelial cells in cortex and medulla containing stem cells markers conserved when expanded in vitro, as well as identified specialised cell clusters in each of the two compartment
2020-10-29 | GSE159745 | GEO
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) 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: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: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.
2013-05-07 | GSE44945 | GEO
Project description:Purpose: Cortical thymic epithelial cells (cTECs) contain a unique type of proteasomes, thymoproteasomes. Indirect evidence suggests that the key role of PSMB11, a catalytic subunit of thymoproteasomes specific to cTECs, is to generate a unique repertoire of MHC I peptides. Notably, PSMB11-deficient mice display defective development of CD8 thymocytes. The objective of this study was to characterize the impact of PSMB11 on cTECs and thymocyte development. Since different types of proteasomes have non-redundant effects on gene expression, we hypothesized that thymoproteasomes should have a distinct impact on the transcriptome and thereby the function of cTECs. Results: We report that PSMB11 in cortical thymic epithelial cells has dramatic effects on cTECs on both CD4 and CD8 thymocyte populations. PSMB11 modulates the expression of 850 genes in cTECs, 582 in CD4 thymocytes and 284 in CD8 thymocytes. PSMB11-regulated cTEC genes are involved mainly in cell-cell adhesion, extracellular matric organization and thymocyte chemotaxis. PSMB11-deficient cTECs acquire features of mTECs and perturb thymocyte development. Deletion of PSMB11 causes a major cell stress in both CD4 and CD8 thymocyte populations. Of note, PSMB11-deficiency had no impact on medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs), which originate from progenitors that express PSMB11 early in ontogeny. Conclusion: We conclude that PSMB11 has pervasive effects on both CD4 and CD8 thymocytes via regulation of gene expression in cTECs.
2019-01-01 | GSE107536 | GEO
Project description:Purpose: Cortical thymic epithelial cells (cTECs) contain a unique type of proteasomes, thymoproteasomes. Indirect evidence suggests that the key role of PSMB11, a catalytic subunit of thymoproteasomes specific to cTECs, is to generate a unique repertoire of MHC I peptides. Notably, PSMB11-deficient mice display defective development of CD8 thymocytes. The objective of this study was to characterize the impact of PSMB11 on cTECs and thymocyte development. Since different types of proteasomes have non-redundant effects on gene expression, we hypothesized that thymoproteasomes should have a distinct impact on the transcriptome and thereby the function of cTECs. Results: We report that PSMB11 in cortical thymic epithelial cells has dramatic effects on cTECs on both CD4 and CD8 thymocyte populations. PSMB11 modulates the expression of 850 genes in cTECs, 582 in CD4 thymocytes and 284 in CD8 thymocytes. PSMB11-regulated cTEC genes are involved mainly in cell-cell adhesion, extracellular matric organization and thymocyte chemotaxis. PSMB11-deficient cTECs acquire features of mTECs and perturb thymocyte development. Deletion of PSMB11 causes a major cell stress in both CD4 and CD8 thymocyte populations. Of note, PSMB11-deficiency had no impact on medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs), which originate from progenitors that express PSMB11 early in ontogeny. Conclusion: We conclude that PSMB11 has pervasive effects on both CD4 and CD8 thymocytes via regulation of gene expression in cTECs.
2019-01-01 | GSE107535 | GEO
Project description:The thymus is an important site for the establishment and maintenance of an appropriate immune response through positive and negative selection of developing T cells. During selection, developing T cells interact with cortical and medullary thymic epithelial cells (TECs), termed cTECs and mTECs respectively. Our lab found that TEC-specific deletion of Ski decreased the mTEC compartment in the thymus and that tissue restricted antigen (TRA) expression in mTECs was also altered. Interestingly, these mice were significantly protected from developing experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) disease compared to the control mice and naïve CD4 T cells purified from Ski-deleted mice showed a defect in proliferation in vitro after global T cell receptor (TCR) stimulation. Overall, our findings suggest that SKI signaling in the thymus regulates mTEC differentiation and function as well as downstream peripheral T cell responses and provide evidence for targeting SKI in T cell driven autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis.
2024-06-26 | GSE220665 | GEO
Project description:The goal of our study was to evaluate at the systems-level, the effect of sex hormones on thymic epithelial cells (TECs). To this end, we sequenced the transcriptome of cortical and medullary TECs (cTECs and mTECs) from three groups of 6 month-old mice: males, females and males castrated at four weeks of age. In parallel, we analyzed variations in the size of TEC subsets in those three groups between 1 and 12 months of age. We report that sex hormones have pervasive effects on the transcriptome of TECs: the number of differentially expressed genes was 1,440 in cTECs and 1,783 in mTECs. Sexual dimorphism was particularly conspicuous in cTECs. Male cTECs displayed low proliferation rates that correlated with low expression of Foxn1 and its main targets. Furthermore, male cTECs expressed relatively low levels of genes instrumental in thymocyte expansion (e.g., Dll4) and positive selection (Psmb11 and Ctsl). Nevertheless, cTECs were more abundant in males than females. Accumulation of cTECs in males correlated with differential expression of genes regulating cell survival and cell differentiation. Unexpectedly, we observed that female and male sex hormones repressed promiscuous gene expression in mTECs. Since sex hormones did not affect the expression of Aire per se, they must impinge on the activity of unidentified regulator(s) of promiscuous gene expression in mTECs. The sexual dimorphism of TECs highlighted here may be mechanistically linked to the well-recognized sex differences in susceptibility to infections and autoimmune diseases.
2015-11-26 | GSE66873 | 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