The Cellular and Molecular Characteristics of Postnatal Human Thymus Stromal Stem Cells

Skelin Ilić, Josipa; Bódi, Ildikó; Milković, Lidija; Prodan, Zsolt; Belina, Dražen; Heckel, Darko; Čičin-Šain, Lipa; Grčević, Danka; Delfino, Domenico Vittorio; Radic Kristo, Delfa; Matulić, Maja; Antica, Mariastefania (2025) The Cellular and Molecular Characteristics of Postnatal Human Thymus Stromal Stem Cells. Biomedicines, 13 (4). ISSN 2227-9059

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Abstract

The thymus is the central hub of T-cell differentiation, where epithelial cells guide the process of their maturation. Objective: Our goal was to identify and describe progenitor cells within the human thymus that can differentiate into epithelial cells. When we plated enriched thymic cells in 3D culture conditions, rare individual cells capable of self-renewal and differentiation formed spheroids. Both neonatal and adult thymuses produced similar numbers of spheroids, suggesting that progenitor potential remains consistent across age groups. Some cells within the spheres express genes typical of mature epithelial cells, while others express genes associated with the immature compartment active during thymic organogenesis. However, there were also cells expressing PDGFRβ. We treated the tissues with 2-deoxyguanosine before digestion, which improved the yield of progenitor cells. We also cultured the enriched stromal thymocytes with Cyr61 and Interleukin-22, which affected the spheroid size. Our efforts towards thymic reconstitution are ongoing, but our research uncovers previously unknown characteristics of the elusive epithelial progenitor population.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	human thymus; epithelial stem cell; 3D thymus culture
Subjects:	BIOMEDICINE AND HEALTHCARE > Basic Medical Sciences BIOMEDICINE AND HEALTHCARE > Basic Medical Sciences > Cytology, Histology and Embryology BIOMEDICINE AND HEALTHCARE > Basic Medical Sciences > Immunology
Divisions:	Division of Molecular Medicine
Projects:	Project title Project leader Project code Project type Obnova timusa za preciznu medicinu u liječenju tumora i leukemija-THYMINNOVA Mariastefania Antica IP-2020-02-2431 HRZZ Development of Stem Cell Based Therapy for Thymic Regeneration-THYMISTEM Mariastefania Antica 602587 EK Otkrivanje poveznica između peripartalnog mentalnog i metaboličkog zdravlja putem metabolomičkih i genetičkih analiza LinkMe Jasminka Štefulj IP-2024-05-4961 HRZZ Inaktivacija osteoklastnih progenitora i zaštita kosti u imunosno-posredovanim upalnim bolestima: modeli šećerne bolesti i artritisa OPTIMIDAL Danka grčević IP-2022-10-2285 HRZZ
Depositing User:	Josipa Skelin Ilić
Date Deposited:	16 Jan 2026 13:12
URI:	http://fulir.irb.hr/id/eprint/10965
DOI:	10.3390/biomedicines13041004

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