Transposable elements regulate T cell maturation and education in the thymus
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ABSTRACT:
ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus
PROVIDER: GSE232011 | GEO | 2024/04/16
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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Project description:Antigen presentation by cortical and medullary thymic epithelial cells (cTEC and mTEC) ensures the formation of a self-restricted and self-tolerant T cell repertoire, respectively. As such, a broad diversity of self-antigens needs to be presented by mTEC to induce T cell’s self-tolerance. Even though the expression and antigen presentation of protein coding genes in mTEC has been abundantly described, little is known of the implication of allegedly noncoding regions of the genome to tolerance induction. In this study, we focused on transposable elements (TE), which have been shown to be highly expressed by mTEC.
2024-04-17 | PXD042241 | Pride
Project description:Promiscuous gene expression (pGE) of numerous self-antigens in thymic epithelial cells (TEC) enables the elimination of self-reactive T cells. The autoimmune regulator (Aire) is the only known molecular determinant driving pGE in the thymus but the existence of Aire-independent mechanisms has been inferred. Here, we analyzed the poly(A)+ transcriptome of TEC populations by RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) in order to reveal differential features of Aire-induced vs. –independent pGE. We report an unanticipated effect of Aire deletion on the proliferation and differentiation of cortical TEC. Moreover, the RNA-seq data reveal the breath of Aire-induced and –independent pGE in medullary TEC (mTEC) subsets and the extent of thymic peripheral tissue representation. The results suggest that Aire-induced promiscuously expressed transcripts affect several functions with far reaching biological consequences in mTEC. High-throughput characterization of TEC transcriptomes will enable progress in understanding TEC biology and the establishment of self-tolerance. The mRNA profiles of cTEC, mTEClo and mTEChi from 6-8 week-old wild type (WT) and Aire-/- (KO) mice were generated by RNA-sequencing using Illumina HiSeq2000.
2015-05-19 | E-GEOD-65617 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:We used Affymetrix microarrays to understand the genome wide differences in Adult and fetal cortical thymic epithelial cells (cTEC) and medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTEC)
2017-02-10 | GSE81433 | GEO
Project description:Thymic epithelial cells (TEC) control T cell development and play essential roles in establishing self-tolerance. Transcription factors controlling TEC development are poorly characterized. We report that Klf6 plays a critical role in TEC development. Mice deficient for Klf6 in TEC had a hypoplastic thymus - evident from fetal stages into adulthood. Proliferation of TEC was not reduced, but a dramatic increase in the frequency of apoptotic TEC in fetal and adult thymus was observed. Among cortical TEC (cTEC), we found expansion of a previously unreported cTEC population expressing the transcription factor Sox10. Medullary TEC (mTEC) subsets were not equally impacted with Ccl21a+ mTEC I and Tuft-like mTEC IV being disproportionately affected. Consistent with these TEC defects, naïve conventional T cells and NKT cells were reduced in the spleen, and signs of autoimmunity were evident. Thus, Klf6 has a pro- survival role in TEC and is also required for differentiation of the mTEC I and mTEC IV populations of TEC in adult mice. In this work, we report that mice with Foxn1-Cre mediated ablation of Klf6 in TEC demonstrate thymic hypoplasia beginning from prenatal life and extending through adulthood. Guided by single-cell transcriptional profiling, we determined that loss of Klf6 increased programmed cell death of TEC in prenatal and adult mice. In adult mice, thymic Klf6 deficiency severely impacted the mTEC I and mTEC IV populations. In addition, Klf6 deficiency led to the expansion of a previously uncharacterized cTEC population expressing Sox10 that is present in wild-type mice at very low frequencies. We observed concordant reductions of the naïve αβ T cell and iNKT pools in the periphery of young adult mice. Furthermore, we detected T cell infiltration in salivary and lacrimal glands, indicating defects in T cell tolerance.
2023-10-12 | GSE221073 | GEO
Project description:Thymic epithelial cells (TEC) control T cell development and play essential roles in establishing self-tolerance. Transcription factors controlling TEC development are poorly characterized. We report that Klf6 plays a critical role in TEC development. Mice deficient for Klf6 in TEC had a hypoplastic thymus - evident from fetal stages into adulthood. Proliferation of TEC was not reduced, but a dramatic increase in the frequency of apoptotic TEC in fetal and adult thymus was observed. Among cortical TEC (cTEC), we found expansion of a previously unreported cTEC population expressing the transcription factor Sox10. Medullary TEC (mTEC) subsets were not equally impacted with Ccl21a+ mTEC I and Tuft-like mTEC IV being disproportionately affected. Consistent with these TEC defects, naïve conventional T cells and NKT cells were reduced in the spleen, and signs of autoimmunity were evident. Thus, Klf6 has a pro- survival role in TEC and is also required for differentiation of the mTEC I and mTEC IV populations of TEC in adult mice. In this work, we report that mice with Foxn1-Cre mediated ablation of Klf6 in TEC demonstrate thymic hypoplasia beginning from prenatal life and extending through adulthood. Guided by single-cell transcriptional profiling, we determined that loss of Klf6 increased programmed cell death of TEC in prenatal and adult mice. In adult mice, thymic Klf6 deficiency severely impacted the mTEC I and mTEC IV populations. In addition, Klf6 deficiency led to the expansion of a previously uncharacterized cTEC population expressing Sox10 that is present in wild-type mice at very low frequencies. We observed concordant reductions of the naïve αβ T cell and iNKT pools in the periphery of young adult mice. Furthermore, we detected T cell infiltration in salivary and lacrimal glands, indicating defects in T cell tolerance.
2023-10-12 | GSE220270 | GEO
Project description:Medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs) are essential for the establishment of self-tolerance in T cells. Promiscuous gene expression by a subpopulation of mTECs regulated by nuclear protein Aire contributes to the display of self-genomic products to newly generated T cells. Recent reports have highlighted additional self-antigen-displaying mTEC subpopulations; namely, Fezf2-expressing mTECs and a mosaic of self-mimetic mTECs including thymic tuft cells. In addition, a functionally different subset of mTECs produces chemokine CCL21 that attracts developing thymocytes to the medullary region. Here we report that CCL21+ mTECs and Aire+ mTECs non-redundantly cooperate to direct self-tolerance to prevent autoimmune pathology by optimizing the deletion of self-reactive T cells and the generation of regulatory T cells. We also detected a cooperation for self-tolerance between Aire and Fezf2, which unexpectedly regulates thymic tuft cells. Our results indicate an indispensable interplay among functionally diverse mTECs for the establishment of central self-tolerance.
2024-03-08 | GSE243180 | GEO
Project description:Medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs) are essential for the establishment of self-tolerance in T cells. Promiscuous gene expression by a subpopulation of mTECs regulated by nuclear protein Aire contributes to the display of self-genomic products to newly generated T cells. Recent reports have highlighted additional self-antigen-displaying mTEC subpopulations; namely, Fezf2-expressing mTECs and a mosaic of self-mimetic mTECs including thymic tuft cells. In addition, a functionally different subset of mTECs produces chemokine CCL21 that attracts developing thymocytes to the medullary region. Here we report that CCL21+ mTECs and Aire+ mTECs non-redundantly cooperate to direct self-tolerance to prevent autoimmune pathology by optimizing the deletion of self-reactive T cells and the generation of regulatory T cells. We also detected a cooperation for self-tolerance between Aire and Fezf2, which unexpectedly regulates thymic tuft cells. Our results indicate an indispensable interplay among functionally diverse mTECs for the establishment of central self-tolerance.
2024-04-18 | GSE244501 | GEO
Project description:To investigate the role of Aire in thymic selection, we examined the cellular requirements for generation of ovalbumin (OVA)-specific CD4 and CD8 T cells in mice expressing OVA under the control of the rat insulin promoter (RIP). Aire-deficiency reduced the number of mature single positive (SP) OVA-specific CD4+ or CD8+ T cells in the thymus, independent of OVA expression. Importantly, it also contributed in two way to OVA-dependent negative selection depending on the T cell type. Aire-dependent negative selection of OVA-specific CD8 T cells correlated with Aire-regulated expression of OVA. By contrast, for OVA-specific CD4 T cells, Aire affected tolerance induction by a mechanism that operated independent of the level of OVA expression, controlling access of antigen presenting cells to mTEC-expressed OVA. This study supports the view that one mechanism by which Aire controls thymic negative selection is by regulating the indirect presentation of mTEC-derived antigens by thymic dendritic cells. It also indicates that mTEC can mediate tolerance by direct presentation of Aireregulated antigens to both CD4 and CD8 T cells. Total RNA was extracted from medullary thymic epithelial cells isolated from wildtype and Aire-deficient C57BL/6 mice for comparison of gene expression profiles.
2011-04-06 | E-GEOD-28393 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Promiscuous gene expression (pGE) of tissue-restricted antigens in medullary thyme ephitelial cells (mTECs) is essential for self-tolerance induction and to prevent autoimmunity. We sequenced single mTEC transcriptomes to explore gene expression heterogeneity and to discover patterns of regulation of pGE.
2015-08-02 | E-MTAB-3346 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Cellular interactions in the thymus play an essential role in ensuring the development of a self-tolerant T cell repertoire. Medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs) contribute to tolerance by expressing and presenting tissue-restricted antigens (TRA) so that developing T cells can assess the self-reactivity of their antigen receptors prior to leaving the thymus. This has largely been studied in the context of autoimmune regulator (Aire) dependent TRA expression in mature mTECs. Yet, mTECs are a heterogeneous population of cells that differentially express unique pools of TRA, and whether mTEC subsets induce distinct autoreactive T cell fates remains unclear. Here we attribute unique roles for mTEC subsets in directing distinct mechanisms of T cell tolerance that significantly impact infection and tumor control. These results have important implications in the design of effective therapeutic approaches that aim to modulate the function of self-reactive T cells.
2020-06-26 | GSE153288 | GEO