Articles

        Next >  
scRNA-seq profiling of neonatal and adult thymus-derived CD4+ T cells by a T cell origin-time tracing model 
Yuheng Han1,† , Xinxing Ouyang1,2,† , Yao Chen1 , Shujing Lai1 , Hongxiang Sun1 , Ningbo Wu1 , Chun Ruan1 , Limin Lu1 , Bing Su1,3,4,5,*
1Shanghai Institute of Immunology, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, and the Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Cell Death and Differentiation, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
2Department of Tumor Biology, Shanghai Chest Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200030, China
3Center for Human Translational Immunology at Shanghai Institute of Immunology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
4Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine–Yale Institute for Immune Metabolism, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
5Key Laboratory of Molecular Radiation Oncology of Hunan Province, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, China
These authors contributed equally to this work
*Correspondence to:Bing Su , Email:bingsu@sjtu.edu.cn
J Mol Cell Biol, Volume 14, Issue 12, December 2022, mjac072,  https://doi.org/10.1093/jmcb/mjac072
Keyword: T lineage tracing, Treg, neonatal thymus-derived T cells, neonatal thymus-derived Treg, single-cell RNA sequencing

It is well documented that the neonatal thymus-derived (neonatal-TD) regulatory T cells (Treg) are essential to prevent lethal autoimmune diseases and allergies, and neonatal and adult thymus possesses distinct output potentials for naïve T cells, including Treg. However, the molecular features and detailed functional differences between neonatal-TD and adult thymus-derived (adult-TD) T cells in terms of their ability to maintain immune homeostasis during long-term environmental influences are still largely unknown, partially due to the lack of appropriate animal models to precisely trace these cells at specific time points. In this study, neonatal-TD and adult-TD CD4+ T cells from the spleen and Peyer's patches were traced for 9 weeks by a T cell origin-time tracing mouse model and analysed by single-cell RNA sequencing. More Treg but fewer naïve T cells were found in neonatal-TD CD4+ T cells from both tissues than those from adult-TD counterparts. Interestingly, the neonatal-TD Treg in both the spleen and Peyer's patches exhibited augmented expression of Foxp3, Gata3, Ctla4, Icos, Il2ra, Tgfb1, and Nrp1, as well as enriched Gene Ontology terms like T cell activation and tolerance induction, indicating an enhanced immunosuppressive function. These results were further confirmed by flow cytometry analysis and in vitro immune suppression assays. Flow cytometry also revealed a significantly higher proportion of neonatal-TD Treg in total Treg than that of adult-TD counterparts, suggesting the longer lifespan of neonatal-TD Treg. To investigate the intrinsic features of neonatal-TD and adult-TD CD4+ T cells, a shortened tracing time was performed. Surprisingly, the neonatal-TD and adult-TD CD4+ T cells had similar proportions of Treg and did not exhibit significant differences in 

Contact us

JMCB Editorial Office 

Room 408, Building 31B, 319 Yueyang Road, Shanghai 200031, China 
Tel: +86-21-5492-0951 or +86-21-5492-2831 
E-mail: jmcb@sibs.ac.cn

© Copyright  2011-2020 by Journal of Molecular Cell Biology .  All rights reserved.

JMCB WeChat Platform

Twitter ID: OUP_JMCB