Project description:Although the advent of organoids opened unprecedented perspectives for basic and translational research, immune system-related organoids remain largely underdeveloped. Here we established organoids from the thymus, the lymphoid organ responsible for T cell development. We identified conditions enabling thymic epithelial progenitor cell proliferation and development into organoids with diverse cell populations and transcriptional profiles resembling in vivo thymic epithelial cells (TECs) more closely than traditional TEC cultures. Contrary to these two-dimensional cultures, thymic epithelial organoids maintained thymus functionality in vitro and mediated physiological T cell development upon reaggregation with T cell progenitors. The reaggregates showed in vivo-like epithelial diversity and ability to attract T cell progenitors. Thymic epithelial organoids are the first organoids originating from the stromal compartment of a lymphoid organ. They provide new opportunities to study TEC biology and T cell development in vitro, paving the way for future thymic regeneration strategies in ageing or acute injuries.
Project description:Although the advent of organoids opened unprecedented perspectives for basic and translational research, immune system-related organoids remain largely underdeveloped. Here we established organoids from the thymus, the lymphoid organ responsible for T cell development. We identified conditions enabling thymic epithelial progenitor cell proliferation and development into organoids with diverse cell populations and transcriptional profiles resembling in vivo thymic epithelial cells (TECs) more closely than traditional TEC cultures. Contrary to these two-dimensional cultures, thymic epithelial organoids maintained thymus functionality in vitro and mediated physiological T cell development upon reaggregation with T cell progenitors. The reaggregates showed in vivo-like epithelial diversity and ability to attract T cell progenitors. Thymic epithelial organoids are the first organoids originating from the stromal compartment of a lymphoid organ. They provide new opportunities to study TEC biology and T cell development in vitro, paving the way for future thymic regeneration strategies in ageing or acute injuries.
Project description:Mouse thymic epithelial cell organoids, cultured in (1) expansion medium, (2) differentiation medium, or (3) differentiation medium with Rank ligand and retinoic acid (DM+RR), were FACS sorted into plates to follow the SORT-seq protocol (Muraro et al., 2016).
Project description:Thymic epithelial tumors are a group of neoplasms with heterogeneous histological features and clinical behavior. The identification of markers useful to predict patient prognosis and molecular targets for therapies is limited by a very little understanding of the biology of these neoplasms. We evaluated the copy number (CN) aberrations of genes involved in normal thymus development in thymic epithelial tumors, following the intriguing idea that the ectopic deregulation of genes relevant for proliferation and differentiation of embryonic cells, can contribute to tumor growth. Frequent CN losses of FOXC1 were observed in more aggressive tumors and correlated with a reduced protein expression; tumors negative for FOXC1 expression were associated with a shorter time to progression. In addition, FOXC1 showed tumor suppressor activity in in-vitro models. Our data indicate that FOXC1 loss can identify a group of thymic epithelial tumors with poor prognosis, possibly because its tumor suppressor properties. Two color array CGH of a series of 59 thymic epithelial tumors plus evaluation of 2 thymic carcinoma cell lines and one thymoma B1 cell line.