Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase and CD84 identify human multi-potent lymphoid progenitors.

Kim, YeEun; Calderon, Ariel A; Favaro, Patricia; Glass, David R; Tsai, Albert G; Ho, Daniel; Borges, Luciene; Greenleaf, William J et al. · Nat Commun · 2024

basic_science · Level V

Where this comes from

Abstract

Lymphoid specification in human hematopoietic progenitors is not fully understood. To better associate lymphoid identity with protein-level cell features, we conduct a highly multiplexed single-cell proteomic screen on human bone marrow progenitors. This screen identifies terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT), a specialized DNA polymerase intrinsic to VDJ recombination, broadly expressed within CD34<sup>+</sup> progenitors prior to B/T cell emergence. While these TdT<sup>+</sup> cells coincide with granulocyte-monocyte progenitor (GMP) immunophenotype, their accessible chromatin regions show enrichment for lymphoid-associated transcription factor (TF) motifs. TdT expression on GMPs is inversely related to the SLAM family member CD84. Prospective isolation of CD84<sup>lo</sup> GMPs demonstrates robust lymphoid potentials ex vivo, while still retaining significant myeloid differentiation capacity, akin to LMPPs. This multi-omic study identifies human bone marrow lymphoid-primed progenitors, further defining the lympho-myeloid axis in human hematopoiesis.

Medical subject headings