Title: Reconstitution of thymic environment for T cell development: Generation 

       of thymic epithelial progenitors from hESCs

报告人: 吕红霞  博士

        北京大学生命科学学院

Time: May 13, 2014, 10:00-11:30

Location: Conference Room 302, Integrated Research Science Building, PKU

Host: Professor Zemin Zhang

Contact: 62758323-325

Email: zeminz@yahoo.com

Abstract

The thymus is the primary lymphoid organ of the immune system responsible for T cell development. Dysfunction of the thymus causes immune diseases ranging from immunodeficiency to autoimmunity. Thymus transplantation shows great potential for promoting T cell regeneration in post-transplantation immune deficiency and age-related thymic atrophy and inducing immune tolerance to allografts. hESCs are promising sources for cell replacement therapies. We demonstrated that human thymic epithelial progenitor-like cells (TEPLCs) could be generated from hESCs in a stepwise manner, mimicking in vivo thymus organogenesis. When transplanted into nude mice, the TEPLCs further matured into thymic epithelium and supported mouse T cell development. These findings could facilitate hESC-based replacement therapy and provide a valuable in vitro platform for studying human thymus organogenesis and regeneration.

Biography

吕红霞，1997年于青岛医学院获医学学士学位，2003年于中国疾病与预防控制中心病毒病研究所获免疫学医学硕士学位，2007年于中国科学院生物物理研究所获分子生物学与生物化学博士学位，此后进入北京大学生命科学学院从事博士后研究工作，主要从事肿瘤杀伤分子机制、干细胞定向分化及人源化小鼠模型等研究。