Judy Lieberman is a professor of pediatrics and adjunct professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School and an endowed chair in cellular and molecular medicine. Her lab studies cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL), key cells in the immune defense against viral infection and cancer, as well as molecular pathways activated by the granzymes, and how RNA interference (RNAi) regulates cell differentiation in health and disease states.

This review highlights how novel cutting-edge technologies, including high-resolution imaging, single-cell omics, and organoid cultures, have improved our understanding of human thymus biology, in terms of developmental trajectories, cellular heterogeneity, and spatial organization.

Multipotent blood progenitors begin T cell development in the thymus, activating a multistep gene regulatory network. This review explores how the dynamic interplay between Notch signals, Notch-induced factors, and progenitor-associated factors control T-development progression by synergizing and opposing each other’s action.