小柯机器人

德国马克斯·普朗克免疫生物学和表观遗传学研究所Thomas Boehm、Dominic Grün等研究人员合作揭示两种双潜能胸腺上皮细胞祖先类型的发育动态。相关论文于2022年5月25日在线发表于国际学术期刊《自然》。

研究人员结合单细胞RNA测序（scRNA-seq）和一个新的基于CRISPR-Cas9的细胞条形码系统，在小鼠中确定胸腺上皮细胞随时间变化的质和量。这种双重方法使研究人员能够确定两个主要的祖先群体：一个早期双潜能祖先类型偏向皮质上皮，一个产后双潜能祖先群体偏向髓质上皮。研究人员进一步证明，连续提供Fgf7的自分泌导致胸腺微环境的持续扩张，而不会耗尽上皮祖细胞池，这表明有一种策略可以调节胸腺造血活动的程度。

据介绍，胸腺中的T细胞发育对细胞免疫至关重要，并取决于器官型的胸腺上皮微环境。与其他器官相比，胸腺的大小和细胞组成是异常动态的，例如在发育的早期阶段快速生长和高T细胞输出，随后随着年龄的增长，胸腺上皮细胞的功能逐渐丧失，初始T细胞的产量减少。scRNA-seq发现了年轻和年老的成年小鼠胸腺上皮细胞的意外异质性；然而，推定的产前和产后上皮祖细胞的身份和发育动态仍未得到解决。

附：英文原文

Title: Developmental dynamics of two bipotent thymic epithelial progenitor types

Author: Nusser, Anja, Sagar, Swann, Jeremy B., Krauth, Brigitte, Diekhoff, Dagmar, Calderon, Lesly, Happe, Christiane, Grn, Dominic, Boehm, Thomas

Issue&Volume: 2022-05-25

Abstract: T cell development in the thymus is essential for cellular immunity and depends on the organotypic thymic epithelial microenvironment. In comparison with other organs, the size and cellular composition of the thymus are unusually dynamic, as exemplified by rapid growth and high T cell output during early stages of development, followed by a gradual loss of functional thymic epithelial cells and diminished naive T cell production with age1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) has uncovered an unexpected heterogeneity of cell types in the thymic epithelium of young and aged adult mice11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18; however, the identities and developmental dynamics of putative pre- and postnatal epithelial progenitors have remained unresolved1,12,16,17,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27. Here we combine scRNA-seq and a new CRISPR–Cas9-based cellular barcoding system in mice to determine qualitative and quantitative changes in the thymic epithelium over time. This dual approach enabled us to identify two principal progenitor populations: an early bipotent progenitor type biased towards cortical epithelium and a postnatal bipotent progenitor population biased towards medullary epithelium. We further demonstrate that continuous autocrine provision of Fgf7 leads to sustained expansion of thymic microenvironments without exhausting the epithelial progenitor pools, suggesting a strategy to modulate the extent of thymopoietic activity.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04752-8

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04752-8

Nature：《自然》，创刊于1869年。隶属于施普林格·自然出版集团，最新IF：69.504
官方网址：http://www.nature.com/
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