Science: The first human thymus map was successfully mapped, and the human body's "Google Map" went one step further!

The thymus is responsible for the maturation of many types of T-cells, and T-cells are theimmunesystem that protects us frominfectionsThe thymus is the largest and most active inchildren's, and shrinks as they grow young, almost disappearing by the age of 35Understanding the development of the thymus can help us reveal how aging andimmunesystem changes in lifepart of the human thymus
on February 21st, researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute in the UK, the University of Newcastle and the University of Ghent in Belgium announced the success of mapping the first full-life life of thymus tissue, opening the door to new treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseasesThe findings were published in the journal Science under the title "A atlas of human thymic development defines T cell repertoire formation"DOI: 10.1126/science.aay3224Specifically, the researchers analyzed 200,000 cells fromembryo, infant and adult thymus using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to identify more than 50 different thymus cell states based on gene expressionThe state of human thymus cells changes dynamically throughout development and throughout childhood and adulthoodAt the same time, the team identified a new subgroup of human thymus fibroblasts and epithelial cellsBased on marker genes obtained from single-cell transcription groups, the researchers spatially located the new cell subgroups using single-molecule fluorescent insiticity hybridization (smFISH)In addition, they used computational methods to predict the trajectory of human T-cell development, including differentiation from early hematopoietic progenitor cells from the fetal liver into a variety of mature T-cell typesProfessor Muzlifah Haniffa, co-author of the-based paper on building human thymus cellmaps and seniorclinicalresearcher at the University of Newcastle and the Wellcome Sanger Institute, said: "With the thymus cell map, we can interpret cell signaling information in the developing thymus and explore the genes that need to be activated to convert early immune precursor cells into specific T-cellsThe discovery could be used in the future as a reference map to find the right treatment for T-cells to attack and kill specific tumors"Human Thymus Map" is part of the Human Cell Mapping Program launched in 2016 to promote a deeper understanding of human health and diseaseDr Sarah Teichmann, of the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the Organizing Committee of the Human Cell Mapping Program, said, "This latest result will help us understand the development pathways in the body and explain the reasons for the aging-related decline in the immune system, providing the possibility for regenerative medicine to make artificial thymus." "