A spatial human thymus cell atlas mapped to a continuous tissue axis

Cite

Yayon, N., Kedlian, V.R., Boehme, L., Suo, C., Wachter, B.T., Beuschel, R.T., Amsalem, O., Polanski, K., Koplev, S., Tuck, E. and Dann, E., 2024. A spatial human thymus cell atlas mapped to a continuous tissue axis. Nature, 635(8039), pp.708-718. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07944-6

Abstract

T cells develop from circulating precursor cells, which enter the thymus and migrate through specialized subcompartments that support their maturation and selection1. In humans, this process starts in early fetal development and is highly active until thymic involution in adolescence. To map the microanatomical underpinnings of this process in pre- and early postnatal stages, we established a quantitative morphological framework for the thymus—the Cortico-Medullary Axis—and used it to perform a spatially resolved analysis. Here, by applying this framework to a curated multimodal single-cell atlas, spatial transcriptomics and high-resolution multiplex imaging data, we demonstrate establishment of the lobular cytokine network, canonical thymocyte trajectories and thymic epithelial cell distributions by the beginning of the the second trimester of fetal development. We pinpoint tissue niches of thymic epithelial cell progenitors and distinct subtypes associated with Hassall’s corpuscles and identify divergence in the timing of medullary entry between CD4 and CD8 T cell lineages. These findings provide a basis for a detailed understanding of T lymphocyte development and are complemented with a holistic toolkit for cross-platform imaging data analysis, annotation and OrganAxis construction (TissueTag), which can be applied to any tissue.

Datasets

1. thymus scRNA-seq atlas

Explore
Reference genome
Gene annotation version
Alignment software
Subject ID
Age
Donor living at sample collection
Sample preservation method
Sample collection method
Tissue source
Suspension depletion factors
Suspension depleted cell types
Suspension derivation process
Suspension dissociation reagent
Suspension dissociation time
Suspension enriched cell types
Suspension enrichment factors
Library ID
Sequenced fragment
Institute
Library ID repository
Sequencing platform
Cell type
Cell state
Reported disease
Age group
Study
Enrichment
Cell type (park 2020)
Cell type (panfetal 2022)
Cell type level 3
Cell type level 2
Cell type level 1
Cell type level 0
Sample ID
Assay
Disease
Sex
Tissue
Leiden clustering
GRCh38482651 cells
A spatial human thymus cell atlas mapped to a continuous tissue axis

2. thymus scRNA-seq atlas - T cell subset

Explore
Reference genome
Gene annotation version
Alignment software
Subject ID
Age
Donor living at sample collection
Sample preservation method
Sample collection method
Tissue source
Suspension depletion factors
Suspension depleted cell types
Suspension derivation process
Suspension dissociation reagent
Suspension dissociation time
Suspension enriched cell types
Suspension enrichment factors
Library ID
Sequenced fragment
Institute
Library ID repository
Sequencing platform
Cell type
Cell state
Reported disease
Age group
Study
Enrichment
Cell type (park 2020)
Cell type (panfetal 2022)
Cell type level 3
Cell type level 2
Cell type level 1
Cell type level 0
Cell type level 4
Sample ID
Assay
Disease
Sex
Tissue
Leiden clustering
GRCh38391462 cells
A spatial human thymus cell atlas mapped to a continuous tissue axis

3. thymus scRNA-seq atlas - vascular cell subset

Explore
Reference genome
Gene annotation version
Alignment software
Subject ID
Age
Donor living at sample collection
Sample preservation method
Sample collection method
Tissue source
Suspension depletion factors
Suspension depleted cell types
Suspension derivation process
Suspension dissociation reagent
Suspension dissociation time
Suspension enriched cell types
Suspension enrichment factors
Library ID
Sequenced fragment
Institute
Library ID repository
Sequencing platform
Cell type
Cell state
Reported disease
Age group
Study
Enrichment
Cell type (park 2020)
Cell type (panfetal 2022)
Cell type level 3
Cell type level 2
Cell type level 1
Cell type level 0
Cell type level 4
Sample ID
Assay
Disease
Sex
Tissue
Leiden clustering
GRCh3826313 cells
A spatial human thymus cell atlas mapped to a continuous tissue axis

4. thymus scRNA-seq atlas - thymic epithelial cell subset

Explore
Reference genome
Gene annotation version
Alignment software
Subject ID
Age
Donor living at sample collection
Sample preservation method
Sample collection method
Tissue source
Suspension depletion factors
Suspension depleted cell types
Suspension derivation process
Suspension dissociation reagent
Suspension dissociation time
Suspension enriched cell types
Suspension enrichment factors
Library ID
Sequenced fragment
Institute
Library ID repository
Sequencing platform
Cell type
Cell state
Reported disease
Age group
Study
Enrichment
Cell type (park 2020)
Cell type (panfetal 2022)
Cell type level 3
Cell type level 2
Cell type level 1
Cell type level 0
Cell type level 4
Sample ID
Assay
Disease
Sex
Tissue
Leiden clustering
GRCh3825726 cells
A spatial human thymus cell atlas mapped to a continuous tissue axis

5. thymus scRNA-seq atlas - fibroblast subset

Explore
Reference genome
Gene annotation version
Alignment software
Subject ID
Age
Donor living at sample collection
Sample preservation method
Sample collection method
Tissue source
Suspension depletion factors
Suspension depleted cell types
Suspension derivation process
Suspension dissociation reagent
Suspension dissociation time
Suspension enriched cell types
Suspension enrichment factors
Library ID
Sequenced fragment
Institute
Library ID repository
Sequencing platform
Cell type
Cell state
Reported disease
Age group
Study
Enrichment
Cell type (park 2020)
Cell type (panfetal 2022)
Cell type level 3
Cell type level 2
Cell type level 1
Cell type level 0
Cell type level 4
Sample ID
Assay
Disease
Sex
Tissue
Leiden clustering
GRCh3820779 cells
A spatial human thymus cell atlas mapped to a continuous tissue axis

6. thymus scRNA-seq atlas - smooth muscle cell subset

Explore
Reference genome
Gene annotation version
Alignment software
Subject ID
Age
Donor living at sample collection
Sample preservation method
Sample collection method
Tissue source
Suspension depletion factors
Suspension depleted cell types
Suspension derivation process
Suspension dissociation reagent
Suspension dissociation time
Suspension enriched cell types
Suspension enrichment factors
Library ID
Sequenced fragment
Institute
Library ID repository
Sequencing platform
Cell type
Cell state
Reported disease
Age group
Study
Enrichment
Cell type (park 2020)
Cell type (panfetal 2022)
Cell type level 3
Cell type level 2
Cell type level 1
Cell type level 0
Cell type level 4
Sample ID
Assay
Disease
Sex
Tissue
Leiden clustering
GRCh3810019 cells
A spatial human thymus cell atlas mapped to a continuous tissue axis

7. thymus scRNA-seq atlas - B cell subset

Explore
Reference genome
Gene annotation version
Alignment software
Subject ID
Age
Donor living at sample collection
Sample preservation method
Sample collection method
Tissue source
Suspension depletion factors
Suspension depleted cell types
Suspension derivation process
Suspension dissociation reagent
Suspension dissociation time
Suspension enriched cell types
Suspension enrichment factors
Library ID
Sequenced fragment
Institute
Library ID repository
Sequencing platform
Cell type
Cell state
Reported disease
Age group
Study
Enrichment
Cell type (park 2020)
Cell type (panfetal 2022)
Cell type level 3
Cell type level 2
Cell type level 1
Cell type level 0
Cell type level 4
Sample ID
Assay
Disease
Sex
Tissue
Leiden clustering
GRCh383460 cells
A spatial human thymus cell atlas mapped to a continuous tissue axis

8. thymus scRNA-seq atlas - myeloid p1 subset

Explore
Reference genome
Gene annotation version
Alignment software
Subject ID
Age
Donor living at sample collection
Sample preservation method
Sample collection method
Tissue source
Suspension depletion factors
Suspension depleted cell types
Suspension derivation process
Suspension dissociation reagent
Suspension dissociation time
Suspension enriched cell types
Suspension enrichment factors
Library ID
Sequenced fragment
Institute
Library ID repository
Sequencing platform
Cell type
Cell state
Reported disease
Age group
Study
Enrichment
Cell type (park 2020)
Cell type (panfetal 2022)
Cell type level 3
Cell type level 2
Cell type level 1
Cell type level 0
Cell type level 4
Sample ID
Assay
Disease
Sex
Tissue
Leiden clustering
GRCh382923 cells
A spatial human thymus cell atlas mapped to a continuous tissue axis

9. thymus scRNA-seq atlas - myeloid p2 subset

Explore
Reference genome
Gene annotation version
Alignment software
Subject ID
Age
Donor living at sample collection
Sample preservation method
Sample collection method
Tissue source
Suspension depletion factors
Suspension depleted cell types
Suspension derivation process
Suspension dissociation reagent
Suspension dissociation time
Suspension enriched cell types
Suspension enrichment factors
Library ID
Sequenced fragment
Institute
Library ID repository
Sequencing platform
Cell type
Cell state
Reported disease
Age group
Study
Enrichment
Cell type (park 2020)
Cell type (panfetal 2022)
Cell type level 3
Cell type level 2
Cell type level 1
Cell type level 0
Cell type level 4
Sample ID
Assay
Disease
Sex
Tissue
Leiden clustering
GRCh38843 cells
A spatial human thymus cell atlas mapped to a continuous tissue axis

10. merged thymus visium pediatric samples

Explore
Mapped reference annotation
Subject ID
Donor living at sample collection
Sample preservation method
Sample derivation process
Sample source
Tissue section thickness
Library ID
Sequencing platform
Reported disease
Lobules
Tissue annotation level 1
Tissue annotation level 0
Cortico-Medullary axis (Manual v2)
Cell type
Assay
Disease
Sex
Tissue
Age
Sample ID
Leiden clustering
GENCODE 3225593 cells
A spatial human thymus cell atlas mapped to a continuous tissue axis

11. merged thymus visium fetal samples

Explore
Mapped reference annotation
Subject ID
Donor living at sample collection
Sample preservation method
Sample derivation process
Sample source
Tissue section thickness
Library ID
Sequencing platform
Lobules
Tissue annotation level 1
Tissue annotation level 0
Cortico-Medullary Axis (Manual v2)
Cell type
Assay
Disease
Sex
Tissue
Age
Sample ID
Leiden clustering
GENCODE 3212918 cells
A spatial human thymus cell atlas mapped to a continuous tissue axis

12. Multimodal profiling of human postnatal thymocytes using CITE-seq

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Sample ID
GEO accession
Age
Enrichment
Subject ID
Sex
Cell cycle
Cell type
Tissue
Sample collection method
Sample preservation method
Assay
Disease
Leiden clustering
TT-CITE-915902 cells
TT-CITE-614278 cells
TT-CITE-413809 cells
TT-CITE-113272 cells
TT-CITE-1113149 cells
TT-CITE-1212928 cells
TT-CITE-312880 cells
TT-CITE-512537 cells
TT-CITE-212151 cells
TT-CITE-105798 cells
TT-CITE-83840 cells
A spatial human thymus cell atlas mapped to a continuous tissue axis

Alias names

GSE271304, EGAD00001015384, PRJEB77091, E-MTAB-8581, S-BIAD1257