Ana Cumano

Our research develops around two major themes.

1. The fetal liver stromal compartment. Hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) are produced during embryonic development, expand in fetal liver (FL) and later turn quiescent in bone marrow (BM). We have shown that stromal-derived cytokines played an instructive role determining lymphoid lineage commitment. We aim at A. Identify the fetal liver stromal compartment in the mouse and analyze their functional role in the maintenance and/or expansion of the HSC and differentiation into specific lineages. For that we are collaborating with C. Baroud at Institut Pasteur to develop a 3-D Microfluidic based assay and with H. Strick-Marchand in the analyses of human fetal liver stroma.

2. The thymus provides the environment for T cell development. We found that the first wave of thymic seeding progenitors (TSP) originate from lymphoid progenitors primed into the T and lymphoid tissue inducer cell pathways. These cells are unique in space and time and are characterized by the expression of a set of specific surface markers. They generate invariant gd T cells that ensure protection of the epithelial barriers and lymphoid tissue inducer cells that modulate the thymic architecture and both are only produced during embryonic development. We aim at a transcriptional and epigenetic analysis of these progenitors and their in vivo fate mapping to understand what is the contribution of the first wave TSP to the adult immune system.