Transcriptomic diversity in human medullary thymic epithelial cells.

ABSTRACT: The induction of central T cell tolerance in the thymus depends on the presentation of peripheral self-epitopes by medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs). This promiscuous gene expression (pGE) drives mTEC transcriptomic diversity, with non-canonical transcript initiation, alternative splicing, and expression of endogenous retroelements (EREs) representing important but incompletely understood contributors. Here we map the expression of genome-wide transcripts in immature and mature human mTECs using high-throughput 5' cap and RNA sequencing. Both mTEC populations show high splicing entropy, potentially driven by the expression of peripheral splicing factors. During mTEC maturation, rates of global transcript mis-initiation increase and EREs enriched in long terminal repeat retrotranspo

SUBMITTER: Carter JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9345899 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature