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Review
. 2021 Apr;51(4):764-772.
doi: 10.1002/eji.202048769. Epub 2021 Mar 10.

Multiomics uncovers developing immunological lineages in human

Emily Stephenson  1 , Simone Webb  1 , Muzlifah Haniffa  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Multiomics uncovers developing immunological lineages in human

Emily Stephenson et al. Eur J Immunol. 2021 Apr.

Abstract

The development of the human immune system during embryonic and fetal life has historically been difficult to research due to limited access to human tissue. Experimental animal models have been widely used to study development but cellular and molecular programmes may not be conserved across species. The advent of multiomic single-cell technologies and an increase in human developmental tissue biobank resources have facilitated single-cell multiomic studies focused on human immune development. A critical question in the near future is "How do we best reconcile scientific findings across multiple omic modalities, developmental time, and organismic space?" In this review, we discuss the application of single-cell multiomic technologies to unravel the major cellular lineages in the prenatal human immune system. We also identify key areas where the combined power of multiomics technologies can be leveraged to address specific immunological gaps in our current knowledge and explore new research horizons in human development.

Keywords: bioinformatics; developmental immunology; prenatal immunity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no financial or commercial conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
An illustration of a generic individual mammalian cell highlighting which molecules can be measured using single‐cell omic and multiomic methodologies. Examples of the methodologies are shown linked to the molecules they are able to measure. Illustration created with BioRender.com.
Figure 2
Figure 2
An illustration depicting the two waves of hematopoiesis during prenatal human development; the primitive wave of haematopoiesis occurs in embryonic life and the second wave of definitive haematopoiesis occurs in fetal life. During the primitive wave, progenitors from the yolk sac (YS) and aorta‐gonad‐mesonephros (AGM) seed the liver, bone marrow (BM), and peripheral tissues. During the definitive wave, blood and immune cells and progenitors further colonize firstly the BM, from the liver and then the peripheral organs from both the liver and BM. Arrows represent the movement of cells. Illustration created with BioRender.com.
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