A wave of hematopoietic stem cell-derived T/ILC-restricted progenitors initiates thymopoiesis and shapes the embryonic thymus architecture.

Abstract

Multiple waves of hematopoietic progenitors with distinct lineage potentials are differentially regulated in time and space. We show that the first thymic seeding progenitors comprise a unique population of bipotent cells that generate lymphoid tissue inducer and invariant V{gamma}5+ T cells. Both populations are of embryonic origin and induce the maturation of medullary thymic epithelial cells. Indeed, temporal depletion of the first wave of thymocytes results in a five-fold reduction of mature medullary thymic epithelial cells, after birth. We further show that these progenitors are of hematopoietic stem cell, and not, of yolk sac origin, despite the temporal overlap between the onset of lymphopoiesis and the transient expression of lymphoid transcripts in yolk sac precursors, that does not impact their strict erythro-myeloid potential. Our work highlights the relevance of the developmental timing on the emergence of different lymphoid subsets required for the establishment of a functionally diverse immune system.