Developing a Recellularization Approach to Produce Thymic Tissue

The thymus produces the T cells that make up the adaptive immune system, but the organ atrophies with age, contributing to the age-related decline of immune function. A popular science article here comments on a new biotech company seeking to produce thymus tissue for transplantation from decellularized donor tissues. This builds upon work of recent years that improves the understanding of the stem cell and progenitor cell populations that give rise to thymic tissue. Given that understanding, it should be possible to take decellularized thymic tissue and repopulate it with patient-derived cells, or from novel universal cell lines that have been altered so as to allow transplantation into any individual with minimal risk of rejection. While it seems likely that the company will, at the end of the day, remain focused entirely on children born without a thymus rather than on the age-related loss of thymic tissue, there is certainly that potential application waiting in the wings for someone to take up the flag and run with it. "The thymus had largely been ignored because it's complicated, and historically understanding of the biology had progressed slowly. It's starting to accelerate now and a lot of the work that the Francis Crick Institute has been doing is aimed at understanding the core stem cell niche of the thymus and use this to recreate thymus biology. Until recently, there was uncertainty around the progenitor stem cell that leads to the epithelial cells that g...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs