Correlation between circulating innate lymphoid cell precursors and thymic function

Sandra Bajana; Aneta Pankow; Kaili Liu; Martyna Michniowska; Joseph F Urban Jr; Wei R Chen; Xiao-Hong Sun

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2022.103732

Correlation between circulating innate lymphoid cell precursors and thymic function

iScience. 2022 Jan 5;25(2):103732. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.103732. eCollection 2022 Feb 18.

Authors

Sandra Bajana¹, Aneta Pankow¹, Kaili Liu², Martyna Michniowska¹, Joseph F Urban Jr³, Wei R Chen², Xiao-Hong Sun^{1

4

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Affiliations

¹ Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Program in Arthritis and Clinical Immunology, 825 NE 13Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA.
² Stephenson School of Biomedical Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73104, USA.
³ United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, Diet, Genomics, and Immunology Laboratory, Beltsville, MD 73104, USA.
⁴ Department of Cell Biology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA.
⁵ Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA.

Abstract

The thymus has a high capacity to support the differentiation of ILCs, especially when E protein transcription factors are ablated. Whether it contributes to the homeostasis of ILC pools in tissues is not clear. Single-cell RNA sequencing analysis shows a substantial amount of ILC precursors in wild type but not athymic nude blood. The precursors express CD3 intracellularly (ic) but not on the surface. The abundance of Lin^-CD127⁺CD62L⁺icCD3ε⁺ precursors varies with age, peaking at 2-3 months. These cells can differentiate into various ILC subsets on OP9-DL1 stroma in vitro. In the lung, small intestine, and epidermis, icCD3ε⁺ cells differentiate into diverse ILC subsets in different tissue environments in steady state. Helminth infection promotes their differentiation toward functional ILC2s. Thus, the thymus appears to play a role in replenishing ILC pools in different peripheral tissues. Because thymic activity is age-dependent, this finding may help explain age-related differences in immune responses.

Keywords: Components of the immune system; Immunology; Omics; Transcriptomics.

Abstract

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