T Cell Genesis: In Vitro Veritas Est?

Patrick M Brauer1, Jastaranpreet Singh1, Sintia Xhiku1

  • 1Department of Immunology, University of Toronto, Sunnybrook Research Institute, 2075 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, ON M4 N 3M5, Canada.

Trends in Immunology
|October 30, 2016
PubMed

T cells, as orchestrators of the adaptive immune response, serve important physiological and potentially therapeutic roles, for example in cancer immunotherapy. T cells are readily isolated from patients; however, the yield of antigen-specific T cells is limited, thus making their clinical use challenging. Therefore, the generation of T lymphocytes from hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) and human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) in vitro provides an attractive method for the large-scale production and genetic manipulation of T cells. In this review, we discuss recent strategies for the generation of T cells from human HSPCs and PSCs in vitro. Continued advancement in the generation of human T cells in vitro will expand their benefits and therapeutic potential in the clinic.

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