Quiescent thymic epithelial cells contribute to regeneration following induced acute involution

This study aims at isolate a subpopulation of thymic epithelial cells (TECs) enrich in thymic epithelial progenitors. While recent studies have shown that bipotent TEC progenitors exist in adults, the identity of thymic epithelial progenitors (TEPCs) is still debated. Using an exclusively in vivo approach, we show that quiescent UEA1– TECs actively proliferate during thymic regeneration in 6-month-old mice and possessed a MHCIIlo Sca1hi CD49fhi CD24lo Plet1– phenotype. We then performed RNA sequencing of UEA1- quiescent (label-retaining cells, called LRCs) cells and compared them to UEA1- GFP- (nonquiescent, NonLRCs) TECs. Overall design: We analyzed 2 samples with one replicate each. Each sample contains pooled cells isolated from 11 mice to reach a minimum of 10000 cells/replicate.

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Dumont-Lagacé M, Gerbe H, Daouda T, Laverdure JP, Brochu S, Lemieux S, Gagnon É, Perreault C