A cell atlas of human thymic development defines T cell repertoire formation

The thymus provides a nurturing environment for the differentiation and selection of T cells, a process orchestrated by their interaction with multiple thymic cell types. We used single-cell RNA sequencing to create a cell census of the human thymus across the life span and to reconstruct T cell differentiation trajectories and T cell receptor (TCR) recombination kinetics. Using this approach, we identified and located in situ CD8αα+ T cell populations, thymic fibroblast subtypes, and activated dendritic cell states. In addition, we reveal a bias in TCR recombination and selection, which is attributed to genomic position and the kinetics of lineage commitment. Taken together, our data provide a comprehensive atlas of the human thymus across the life span with new insights into human T cell development.

Source: ScienceNOW - February 19, 2020 Category: Science Authors: Park, J.-E., Botting, R. A., Dominguez Conde, C., Popescu, D.-M., Lavaert, M., Kunz, D. J., Goh, I., Stephenson, E., Ragazzini, R., Tuck, E., Wilbrey-Clark, A., Roberts, K., Kedlian, V. R., Ferdinand, J. R., He, X., Webb, S., Maunder, D., Vandamme, N., Ma Tags: Development, Immunology, Online Only r-articles Source Type: news