Combined transient ablation and single-cell RNA-sequencing reveals the development of medullary thymic epithelial cells.

ABSTRACT: Medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs) play a critical role in central immune tolerance by mediating negative selection of autoreactive T cells through the collective expression of the peripheral self-antigen compartment, including tissue-specific antigens (TSAs). Recent work has shown that gene-expression patterns within the mTEC compartment are heterogenous and include multiple differentiated cell states. To further define mTEC development and medullary epithelial lineage relationships, we combined lineage tracing and recovery from transient in vivo mTEC ablation with single-cell RNA-sequencing in Mus musculus. The combination of bioinformatic and experimental approaches revealed a non-stem transit-amplifying population of cycling mTECs that preceded Aire expression. We propose a bran

SUBMITTER: Wells KL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7771965 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature