Pluto Bioinformatics

GSE139042: Single Cell Transcriptome Mapping of Human Thymopoiesis Reveals a Continuum of Cell States During T-Lineage Specification and Commitment

Bulk RNA sequencing

Single cell studies elucidating the transcriptional continuum underpinning lineage commitment in the human bone marrow (BM) have advanced the understanding of hematopoiesis beyond the classic hierarchical model. However, T-lineage commitment, which occurs in the thymus remains incompletely defined. We mapped single cell transcriptomes spanning post-natal human thymopoiesis including the earliest progenitors. Instead of previously described discrete populations, transcriptional and lineage assay data resolved a continuum of novel cell states within CD34+ thymic progenitor cells. The initial stages of thymopoiesis involve multilineage priming of single cells followed by a gradual transition to T-commitment, a continuum previously undescribed outside the BM. Early progenitors express a hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) like profile but unlike HSC show initiation of T-priming. Species related differences exist in the earliest progenitor cells. SOURCE: chintan parekh (cparekh@chla.usc.edu) - CHLA