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This atlas has revealed new cell types and identified signals that tell immature immune cells how to become T cells.
A first cell atlas of the human thymus gland (primary and specialized lymphoid organ of the immune system) could lead to new immune therapies to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases, according to researchers from Belgium and the United Kingdom published in the journal 'Science'.
Scientists from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and the University of Newcastle, in the United Kingdom, and Ghent University, in Belgium, mapped thymus tissue throughout the human lifespan to understand how it develops and produces vital immune cells called T cells. In the future, this information could help researchers generate an artificial thymus and design improved therapeutic T cells.
This atlas of the human thymus has revealed new cell types and identified signals that tell immature immune cells how to become T cells. It could also help scientists understand diseases that affect T cell development, such as immunodeficiency severe combined disease (SCID), and joins the Human Cell Atlas initiative, which is creating a Google map of the entire human body.
The thymus gland is located in the chest and produces T cells, key white blood cells that fight infection and disease. These T cells then reach the blood and other parts of the body to mature further. T cells seek out and destroy invading bacteria and viruses, and also recognize cancer cells and kill them.
