RRC ID 85629
Author Pretemer Y, Gao Y, Kanai K, Yamamoto T, Kometani K, Ozaki M, Nishigishi K, Ikeda T, Xu H, Hotta A, Hamazaki Y.
Title An iPSC-based in vitro model recapitulates human thymic epithelial development and multi-lineage specification.
Journal Nat Commun
Abstract Thymic epithelial cells (TEC) are crucial in supporting T cell development, but their high heterogeneity and difficulty of isolation pose obstacles to their study in humans. Particularly, how diverse TEC lineages arise from a common progenitor remains poorly understood. To address this, here we establish a human iPSC-based model of thymus organogenesis capable of deriving these lineages in vitro. Through controlled retinoid signaling followed by self-directed differentiation, we obtain FOXN1+ TEC progenitor-like cells and diverse mature MHCII+ populations resembling cortical and medullary TECs, allowing us to infer their developmental trajectories. Upon thymocyte co-culture, induced TECs support the generation of naïve T cells with diverse TCR repertoires and further develop into AIRE+ and mimetic TEC subpopulations. Our system provides a fully in vitro model of human TEC differentiation from early fate specification to late-stage maturation, offering new insights into human thymus development and potential regenerative applications for congenital thymic disorders.
Volume 16(1)
Pages 7680
Published 2025-8-25
DOI 10.1038/s41467-025-62523-1
PII 10.1038/s41467-025-62523-1
PMID 40855082
PMC PMC12378236
MeSH AIRE Protein Cell Differentiation Cell Lineage* Coculture Techniques Epithelial Cells* / cytology Epithelial Cells* / metabolism Forkhead Transcription Factors / metabolism Humans Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells* / cytology Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells* / metabolism Models, Biological Organogenesis T-Lymphocytes / cytology Thymocytes / cytology Thymocytes / metabolism Thymus Gland* / cytology Thymus Gland* / metabolism Transcription Factors / metabolism
IF 12.121
Altmetric score
オルトメトリクス指標項目
The most frequently cited source X(Twitter)
Total number of mentions 35
Altmetric score changes over past 6months 1.0
Resource
Human and Animal Cells 201B7(HPS0063) 409B2(HPS0076) 1383D6(HPS1006)