Rothenberg Lab
Principal Investigator: Ellen V. Rothenberg
Institution: California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, CA)
Primary Subfield: Molecular & Cell Bio
Recruitment Status: Inquire for rotation/fellowship opportunities
Research Focus
Project Summary T cells are generated in the thymus from gestation through much of the lifespan in mice and humans, and in some ways the products of fetal and postnatal T cell development are highly similar. However, there are several distinct waves of precursors that enter the T-cell program from mid-gestation to puberty, and successive waves make T cells with distinctive, specific differences in their developmental kinetics and qualitative lineage outputs. First-wave fetal thymocytes, for example, generate unique innate lymphoid cell subsets (ILCs) as well as T cells, give rise to unique gd T cell subsets, limit their diversity of T-cell receptor (TCR) gene rearrangements, and differentiate quickly, reaching early maturation milestones in a fraction of the time of postnatal thymocytes. In all these ways they differ from postnatal thymocytes. Importantly, these differences in T-cell development are not only observed in vivo, where the thymic structure itself is undergoing changes, but also, when they differentiate in a common microenvironment, as distinct waves of precursors maintain most of their unique developmental features in vitro in cocultures with Notch ligand-presenting st…
Active NIH Awards
- 5R01HD100039-07: Molecular basis for contrasting programs of fetal and adult T cell development (2026)
- 5R21AI191126-02: Homeobox protein Hhex in early T cell development (2026)
- 5R37AI178114-03: PROBING CONTROL OF DEVELOPMENTAL EPIGENETIC CHANGE USING RUNX FACTORS (2026)
- 1R21AI191126-01: Homeobox protein Hhex in early T cell development (2025)
- 2R01HD100039-06: Molecular basis for contrasting programs of fetal and adult T cell development (2025)
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