Lymphopoiesis articles from across Nature Portfolio

Specialized T cell effector functions depend upon pre-established chromatin state. Cooperativity among PU.1, RUNX1 and BCL11B directs SWI–SNF complex recruitment to carry out chromatin priming at T cell effector loci during early thymic development.

The molecular mechanisms that maintain thymic epithelial cell (TEC) identity throughout life are incompletely understood. Here, the authors demonstrate that the transcription factor, Ovol2, maintains post-natal TECs by preventing their epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition.

Iwawura et al. identify a noncanonical role for NOD1, independent from its CARD-mediated proteoglycan sensing. Interactions between NOD1 and STAT5 are required for optimal lymphopoiesis in response to homeostatic cytokines.

Runx family proteins direct lineage-fate decisions in multiple cell types. Here, Rothenberg and colleagues show how limited Runx protein abundance dictates T cell lineage developmental kinetics through competition for binding by its protein interaction partners.

This protocol describes a humanized mouse model created using neonatal thymus and umbilical cord blood hematopoietic stem cells as nonfetal human tissue sources.

Specialized T cell effector functions depend upon pre-established chromatin state. Cooperativity among PU.1, RUNX1 and BCL11B directs SWI–SNF complex recruitment to carry out chromatin priming at T cell effector loci during early thymic development.

A study in Science reports 10 individuals with pre-TCRα deficiency who have late-onset or no clinical phenotype, which suggests that αβ T cells can develop through a pre-TCRα-independent, non-canonical rescue pathway.

Control of the alternative commitment of immature CD4⁺CD8⁺ T cells to the CD4⁺ or CD8⁺ lineage has long been the subject of intense scrutiny. A combination of CITE-seq and functional assays provides significant new insights into the distinct T cell antigen receptor signaling requirements for these lineage fates.

Dendritic-cell-biased thymic seeding progenitors provide stromal support for early T cell development through the expression of membrane-bound TNF.

Intrathymic dendritic cell (DC)-biased precursors act as hematopoietic stromal cells that support the generation of human T cell progenitors from hematopoietic progenitor cells, via crosstalk with immature thymocytes that express TNF receptor 2. This function of DC precursors can be exploited to generate T cell precursors and competent T cells for cell therapy.

A stage-specific enhancer augments Notch1 signaling from the early thymic progenitor (ETP) through double-negative thymocyte stages. Enhanced Notch1 activity is required for T cell lineage differentiation at the later end of this developmental interval, but Notch1 also suppresses precocious T lineage commitment in ETPs and promotes their expansion as multi-lineage progenitors.