Functional thymus organoids successfully grown from human stem cells
Now, for the first time, scientists from the University of Florida have grown functional thymus organoids from human stem cells. Though the work is only in the proof-of-concept stage, the “mini-organs” could help develop patient-specific therapies for treating thymic dysfunction.
“An experimental model system to interrogate the mechanisms of thymic insufficiency and function is necessary and could serve to further the development of cell-based therapies for thymic defects,” senior author Holger Russ, Ph.D., said.
In the new study, Russ and his collaborators generated functional, patient-specific, stem cell-derived thymic organoids, which supported the development of thymic epithelial cells and T cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs). The organoids consisted of thymic epithelial progenitors, hematopoietic progenitor cells, and mesenchymal cells, differentiated from the same hPSC line. Russ says the generation of functional hPSC-derived thymic epithelial cells in the lab had never before been achieved and the generation of a functional human thymus from human pluripotent stem cells is an attractive regenerative strategy.
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