ThymUS2020

ThymUS 2020 Virtual Program

November 3 & 4, 2020

Tuesday, November 3

08:00 Introduction and Welcome

Theme 1: Thymus Organogenesis, Microenvironment & Stromal Cells Moderators: Graham Anderson, University of Birmingham, Ellen Richie, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
(15 minute talks with 5 minutes for questions)

08:10 – 08:30 Medullary Stromal Cells Synergise Their Production and Capture of CCL21 For T-cell Emigration From Neonatal Mouse Thymus, Presenter: Kieran D. James, Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

08:30 – 08:50 Thymic Epithelial Cells Require Autophagy-Related Protein Vps34 for Homeostasis and CD4 T Lymphocyte Selection, Presenter: Luke Postoak, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA

(5 minute talks with 3 minutes for questions)

08:50 – 08:58 In Vivo and In Vitro Generation of Patient Specific Thymic Epithelial Cells, Presenter: Stephan Ramos, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

08:58 – 09:06 Single Cell RNAseq Analysis Reveals Profound Abnormalities in the Distribution and Diversity of Thymic Epithelial Cells in Rag1 Mutant Mice, Presenter: Francesca Pala, Laboratory of Clinical Immunology and Microbiology, IDGS, DIR, NIAID, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA

Theme 2: Signaling / Transcriptional Regulation Moderators: Michele Anderson, University of Toronto, Tom Taghon, Ghent University

(15 minute talks with 5 minutes for questions)

09:06 – 09:26 Runx1 and Runx3 Drive Progenitor to T-Lineage Transcriptome Conversion in Mouse T-Cell Commitment via Dynamic Genomic Site Switching, Presenter: Boyoung Shin, Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA USA

09:26 – 09:46 The Canonical T cell Receptor Docking Polarity on Peptide-Major Histocompatibility Complex Molecules is Mandated by T cell Signalling Requirements, Presenter: Pirooz Zareie, Infection and Immunity Programand Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia

09:46 – 10:05 Pre-TCR Signals Influence Divergence of Conventional Naive and Innate Effector T Cells, Presenter: Greet Verstichel, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, CA, USA

(5 minute talk with 3 minutes for questions)

10:05 – 10:13 Thpok Promotes CD4+-Lineage Differentiation by Recruiting the NuRD Chromatin Remodeling Complex, Presenter: Yayi Gao, Laboratory of Immune Cell Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

10:13 – 10:40 Break and Discussion with Speakers

Theme 3: Lineage Decisions Moderators: Jose Alberola-Ila, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Kris Hogquist, University of Minnesota

(15 minute talks with 5 minutes for questions)

10:40 – 11:00 How the Levels of Self-pMHC Sensitivity Determine T Cell Fates in the Thymus and in the Periphery, Presenter: Wan-Lin Lo, Division of

Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco

11:00 – 11:20 Evidence That MHC-Restriction is Not Intrinsic to TCR Structure, Presenter: Marco Craveiro, National Institutes of Health – NCI

11:20 – 11:40 The Role of Cathepsin L in Shaping a Functional CD4 T Cell Repertoire, Presenter: Elisabetta Petrozziello, Institute for Immunology, Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich

(5 minute talks with 3 minutes for questions)

11:40 – 11:48 Role of E-protein targets in regulating γδ T cell development and effector fate, Presenter: Alejandra V. Contreras, Blood Cell Development and Function Program, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia PA

11:48 – 11:56 Developmental Disparity Btween β5t-Dependent and β5t-Independent TCRα- Expressing Thymocytes, Presenter: Melina Frantzeskakis, Experimental Immunology Branch, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland

Theme 4: Emerging Concepts and Methods Moderators: Andreas Krueger, Goethe University Frankfurt, Ellen Rothenberg, California Institute of Technology

(15 minute talks with 5 minutes for questions)

11:56 – 12:16 Integrated scRNA-Seq Identifies Human Postnatal Thymus Seeding Progenitors and Regulatory Dynamics of Differentiating Immature

Thymocytes, Presenter: Marieke Lavaert, Dept. of Diagnostic Sc., Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

12:16 – 12:36 An Integrated Epigenomic and Transcriptomic Map of Mouse and Human T Cell Development, Presenter: Laura Chopp, National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute

(5 minute talk with 3 minutes for questions)

12:36 – 12:44 Functional Analysis of Candidate Genes Causing Primary T Cell Immunodeficiencies Using Zebrafish, Presenter: Robert Sertori, Blood Cell Development and Function Program, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA

12:44 – 13:10 Discussion with Speakers

13:10 Adjourn for day

Wednesday, November 4

11:55 Introduction and Welcome

Theme 5: Innate Cells and Alternative Lineages Moderators: Immo Prinz, Hannover Medical School, Eva Tolosa, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf

(15 minute talks with 5 minutes for questions)

12:00 – 12:20 Classical MHC Expression by DP Thymocytes Impairs the Selection of Non-Classical MHC Restricted Innate-Like T Cells, Presenter: Hristo Georgiev, Center for Immunology and Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

12:20 – 12:40 Ontogenic Timing, T-Cell Receptor Signal Strength, and Notch Signaling Direct γδ T-Cell Functional Differentiation In Vivo, Presenter: Edward L. Y. Chen, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Department of Immunology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

12:40 – 13:00 A Fetal Wave of Human Type-3 Effector γδ T Cells With Restricted TCR Diversity Persists into Adulthood, Presenter: Likai Tan, Institute of Immunology, Hannover Medical School (MHH), Hannover, Germany

(5 minute talk with 3 minutes for questions)

13:00 – 13:08 Skint Heteromers Select Dendritic Epidermal T Cell Progenitors via Conserved Residues, Presenter: Leticia Monin, The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK

13:08 – 13:16 Type 2 Cytokines in the Thymus Induce CD301b+ Dendritic Cells to Enforce Thymocyte Selection, Presenter: Elise Breed, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Center for Immunology, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, USA

Theme 6: Tolerance / Autoimmunity Moderators: Cheong-Hee Chang, University of Michigan, Daniel Gray, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute

(15 minute talks with 5 minutes for questions)

13:16 – 13:36 Bach2 Regulates Commitment and Stability of Thymic Treg Lineage Cells, Presenter: Tom Sidwell, Department of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA

13:36 – 13:56 Id3 Expression is Required for the Survival of Immature Thymocytes That Encounter Self-Antigens in Adult Thymocyte Organ Culture (ATOC), Presenter: Fernando Grigera, University of California San Diego

(5 minute talk with 3 minutes for questions)

13:56 – 14:04 B7-CD28 Co-Stimulation Enforces Central Tolerance by Thymic Clonal Deletion and Treg Cell Generation Through Distinct Mechanisms, Presenter: Masashi Watanabe, Experimental Immunology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA

14:04 – 14:20 Break and Discussion with Speakers

Theme 7: Immunodeficiency & Dysfunction Moderators: Nicolai van Oers, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Gay Crooks, University of California Los Angeles

(15 minute talks with 5 minutes for questions)

14:20 – 14:40 Immunodeficiency Caused by a Dominant Negative FOXN1 Mutant Disrupting Higher Order Nuclear Condensate Structures, Presenter: Ioanna A. Rota, Department of Paediatrics and the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

14:40 – 15:00 Thymus Hypoplasia Resulting from 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome Corrected by Reconstitution with Normal Mesenchymal Cells, Presenter: Pratibha Bhalla, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas

(5 minute talk with 3 minutes for questions)

15:00 – 15:08 In vitro Recapitulation of Murine Thymopoiesis From Single Hematopoietic Stem Cells, Presenter: Amelie Montel-Hagen, Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)

Theme 8: Aging & Immune Reconstitution Moderators: Jarrod Dudakov, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Greg Sempowski, Duke University

(15 minute talks with 5 minutes for questions)

15:08 – 15:28 Enhancing Thymic Function Stalls Age-Associated Mortality of Toxoplasma Gondii, Presenter: Jennifer Cowan, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

15:28 – 15:48 Loss of Early T-cell Progenitor Niche-forming Cxcl12high/Kitlhigh Thymic Endothelium with Age and After Acute Injury, Presenter: Lorenz Jahn, Department of Immunology, Sloan Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA

(5 minute talks with 3 minutes for questions)

15:48 – 15:56 An Early Decline in Circulating Lymphoid Progenitors Contributes to the Age-Associated Reduction in ETP Numbers, Presenter: Jayashree Srinivasan, Department of Molecular Biosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

15:56 – 16:04 Eosinophils Are Essential Regulators of Thymus Regeneration, Presenter: Emilie Cosway, University of Birmingham, UK

16:04 – 16:12 Damage-Induced Pyroptotic Cell Death Facilitates Regeneration of the Thymus, Presenter: Sinéad Kinsella, Program in Immunology, Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle WA

16:12 – 16:20 Timing and Influence of Cell-Intrinsic and -Extrinsic Age-Related Changes on Naive T Cell Peripheral Maintenance, Presenter: Sandip Ashok Sonar, Department of Immunobiology and the University of Arizona Center on Aging, University of Arizona College of Medicine-Tucson, Tucson, AZ, USA

16:20 – 16:28 Thymic involution and incidence of cancer and infectious disease (including COVID-19), Presenter: Sam Palmer, University of Oxford

16:28 – 17:10 Break and Discussion with Speakers

17:10 – 18:10 Closing Keynote Address "Cell-Membrane Exchange: From Ig on T Cells to Cancer Immunotherapy" Dr. Jonathan Sprent, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, Australia

18:10 – 18:30 Presentation Award Announcements

18:30 – 19:00 Virtual Happy Hour

19:00 Meeting Closes