Project description:Many aspects of the porcine immune system remain poorly characterized which poses a barrier to improving swine health and utilizing pigs as preclinical models. Here, we employed single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to create a cell atlas of the postnatal pig thymus. Our data found conserved features as well as species-specific differences in cell states and cell types compared to human thymocytes. We also describe several unconventional T cell types with gene expression profiles associated with innate effector functions. This includes a cell census of >11,000 differentiating invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells, which revealed that the functional diversity of pig iNKT cells differs substantially from the paradigm of iNKT0/1/2/17 subset differentiation established in mice. Collectively, our data characterizes key differentiation events in porcine thymopoiesis and iNKT cell maturation, which provide new insights into pig T cell development.
Project description:Single-cell RNA-seq analysis of murine thymic iNKT cells from two independent C57BL/6 mice and two independent Hivep3-deficient mice
Project description:Single-cell RNA-seq analysis of murine thymic iNKT cells from three independent BALB/c mice and three independent Cd80/Cd86 (B7)-deficient mice
Project description:Single-cell TCR-seq analysis of murine thymic iNKT cells from three independent BALB/c mice and three independent Cd80/Cd86 (B7)-deficient mice
Project description:We report a serum-free, 3-D murine artificial thymic organoid (ATO) system that mimics normal murine thymopoiesis from four different mouse strains with the production of all T cell populations, from early thymic progenitors to functional single positive (CD8SP and CD4SP) TCRaband TCRyd cells. RNA sequencing aligned ATO-derived populations with phenotypically identical primary thymocytes. ATOs initiated with Rag1-/- marrow produced the same differentiation block as seen in the endogenous thymus, and Notch signaling patterns in ATOs mirrored primary thymopoiesis. ATOs initiated with defined hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and progenitors from marrow and thymus recapitulated subsequent stages and the normal kinetics of T cell differentiation. Remarkably, a single HSC deposited into ATOs generated a complete trajectory of T cell differentiation producing a similar diverse TCR repertoire across clones. ATOs represent a technically simple, highly reproducible and powerful experimental platform for the study of clonal thymopoiesis from HSCs.
Project description:Protein arginine methylation is a post-translational modification catalyzed by protein arginine methyltransferase (PRMT). To elucidate the role of PRMT5 in T cells, we generated T-cell specific PRMT5-deficient mice (Prmt5 flox/d Cd4-Cre mice) and found a severe loss of thymic iNKT cells as well as a reduced number in peripheral CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. As iNKT cells were significantly decreased in the stage 1, 2 and 3 of developmental stages, RNA-seq was performed using stage 1 iNKT cells of control and PRMT5-deficient mice. This transcriptome analysis will provide mechanistic insight into how PRMT5 contributes to thymic iNKT cell development.
Project description:Invariant Natural Killer T (iNKT) cells are a unique subset of T lymphocytes with a memory like phenotype which express invariant T cell receptor (TCR) chain comprised of a Vα14-Jα18 rearrangement in mice. In the present study, we characterize the transcriptomes of thymic iNKT cells at the single cell level to reveal the underlying metabolic adaptation that exists over the course of iNKT cell development.
Project description:Many aspects of the porcine immune system remain poorly characterized, which poses a barrier to improving swine health and utilizing pigs as preclinical models. Here, we employ single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to create a cell atlas of the early-adolescent pig thymus. Our data show conserved features as well as species-specific differences in cell states and cell types compared with human thymocytes. We also describe several unconventional T cell types with gene expression profiles associated with innate effector functions. This includes a cell census of more than 11,000 differentiating invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells, which reveals that the functional diversity of pig iNKT cells differs substantially from the iNKT0/1/2/17 subset differentiation paradigm established in mice. Our data characterize key differentiation events in porcine thymopoiesis and iNKT cell maturation and provide important insights into pig T cell development.
Project description:Invariant natural killer T cells (iNKT) cells are differently distributed in various immune organs. However, it remains unclear whether iNKT cells exhibit phenotypical and functional differences in different peripheral organs and how thymic iNKT migrate to peripheral organs. Hence, characterizing iNKT cells in peripheral organs is important.
Project description:Invariant natural killer T cells (iNKT) cells are innate-like T cells, selected from thymic cortex-resident CD4+CD8+ double positive (DP) thymocytes. Despite major advances in the understanding of iNKT cells development, the heterogeneity of iNKT subsets and underlying molecular programs that guide iNKT cell-lineage remain unclear.