Characterization of Thymus- derived Immune and Accessory cells

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Study for the characterization of Thymus- derived Immune and Accessory cells

• IRAS ID

  272000

• Contact name

  Anastasios Karadimitris

• Contact email

  a.karadimitris@imperial.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  Imperial College London

• Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

  19/SC/0613, REC Reference

• Duration of Study in the UK

  5 years, 0 months, 0 days

• Research summary

  Thymus is a gland which lies behind the breast bone (also known as sternum) close to the heart. It grows from birth up to the age of 2-3 years, gaining a maximum weight of 30-40 grams, it then begins to shrink in the adolescents’ years before regressing to a thin fatty tissue in old age.
  Thymus Gland plays an important role in the development of white blood cells ( called T-lymphocytes). White blood precursor cells from bone marrow enter the thymus via blood vessels. In Thymus, these immature T-cells undergo a process of maturation by which they become able to attack foreign cells. These immune cells also go through a selection phase in thymus gland, by which cells which react to foreign cells survive and mature (positive selection) and the cells which react to body’s own cells are removed (negative selection). The final product which come out of thymus is a collection of highly selective T-cells and its subsets.
  During major heart surgery in children, thymus gland is routinely removed in order to allow the surgeons to access the heart and perform the procedure. This tissue is normally discarded. We would like to use this surgically removed thymus tissue, which is otherwise destined to be wasted, for this study. The aim of this project is:
  1) To study various characteristic and functional aspects of Thymic immune cells
  2) To assess if any of these cells or their distinct features could be employed for immunotherapeutic purposes

  We will use modern technologies, including genetic studies, cell culture, flow cytometry techniques etc to examine different features of these cells. The proposed study will last 5 years and will recruit patients undergoing cardiac surgery at Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust.

• REC name

  South Central - Berkshire B Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  19/SC/0613

• Date of REC Opinion

  11 Dec 2019

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion