Science: construct the first human thymocyte map, reveal the origin of human immune system, open the door for the development of new cancer immunotherapy

February 26, 2020 / Biovalley BIOON / - -- the first cell map of human thymus may lead to new immunotherapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases Now, in a new study, researchers from institutions such as the University of Newcastle in the UK, the Sanger Institute of welcom foundation and the University of Ghent in Belgium have mapped thymus tissue in human life to understand how it develops and produces important immune cells called T cells In the future, this information may help scientists build artificial thymus and design improved therapeutic T cells The relevant research results were published in the Science Journal on February 21, 2020, with the title of "a cell Atlas of human thermal development definitions T cell repertoire formation" Construction of human thymocyte map, picture from science, 2020, DOI: 10.1126/science.aay3224 This human thymus map reveals new cell types and identifies signals that indicate how immature immune cells develop into T cells It may also help scientists understand diseases that affect T-cell development, such as severe integrated immunodeficiency (SCID), and add them to the human cell atlas project that is being built Thymus is located in the chest and can produce T cells, which are the key leukocytes to resist infection and disease These T cells then leave the thymus and enter the blood and other parts of the body for further maturation T cells look for and kill invading bacteria and viruses, and they can also recognize cancer cells and kill them Thymus development problems lead to defective T cells This can lead to severe immune deficiencies (such as SCID) that make people susceptible to infection Or it can affect T-cell regulation, leading to autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes Although mature T cells have been fully studied, the development of human thymus and its T cells has not been fully understood Using a single cell technique, the researchers isolated and analyzed about 200000 cells from the developing thymus, as well as from the thymus tissues of children and adults They studied the active genes in each cell to identify these cells, and found new cell types, using these genes as markers to map each cell to the exact location in the thymus Dr jongeun Park, the first author of the paper and the Sanger Institute of the welcom foundation, said, "we have mapped the first human thymocytes to understand what happens to healthy thymus during the whole life cycle from development to adulthood and how it can provide an ideal environment for supporting T cell formation This publicly available resource will enable scientists around the world to understand how the immune system develops to protect our bodies " At present, therapeutic T cells have been used to treat B-cell lymphoma, leukemia and other cancers, but one of the main disadvantages of these treatments is to produce the correct T cell subtypes Professor muzlifah Haniffa, co-author of the paper and professor of Newcastle University, said, "with this thymocyte map, we can reveal the cell signals of developing thymus and reveal which genes need to be opened to convert early immune precursor cells into specific T cells This is really exciting, because in the future, this cell map can be used as a reference map to design T cells with the right characteristics in vitro to attack and kill specific cancers, that is, to build tailored therapies for tumors " "We now have a very detailed understanding of the formation of T cells in healthy tissues," said Tom taghon, a professor at Ghent University who co authored the paper We were able to identify a similar population of precursor cells in the developing thymus and liver We believe that these precursor cells are important for the initiation of fetal T cell development and the establishment of fully functional thymus organs This helps us piece together pieces of the puzzle to get a more comprehensive picture of how the immune system is produced " The thymus is unusual because it is the largest, most active in childhood and atrophic after puberty The thymus, known as the pacemaker of life, almost disappeared by the age of 35 Understanding how the thymus develops and then shrinks reveals aging and how the immune system changes in life "This thymocyte map is an important part of the mission of the human cell map, which aims to map every cell type in the human body," said Sarah TEICHMANN, Ph.D., co-author of the paper and co-author of the Sanger Institute of the welcom foundation It will help us understand the developmental pathways in the body and the age-related decline in immune system function This has been applied in cell engineering, including the possibility of constructing artificial thymus for regenerative medicine " (bio Com) reference: 1 Jong Eun Park et al A cell Atlas of human thermal development definitions T cell repertoire formation Science, 2020, DOI: 10.1126/science.aay3224 2 Origins of immune system mapped, opening doors for new cancer immunotherapies https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-02-immune-doors-cancer-immunotherapies.html