The immune system must strike a delicate balance: protecting the body from infection and cancer while avoiding attacks on healthy tissues. This balance is learned in the thymus, where developing T cells are trained to distinguish “self” from “non-self.” Within the thymus, a unique group of teacher cells—known as mimetic thymic epithelial cells—adopt the molecular identity of other organs to help prevent autoimmunity. One rare type, the goblet medullary thymic epithelial cell (goblet mTEC), imitates the mucus-producing goblet cells found in the gut and airways. These mimetic cells may play an essential role in preventing immune attacks that lead to inflammatory diseases of barrier tissues such as the intestine and lung.
Dr. Yebin Wang’s project investigates how goblet mTECs educate T cells to tolerate self-antigens from mucosal tissues and what happens when this process fails. Using advanced single-cell and spatial genomics approaches, his research will map how these thymic cells model goblet cell identity and interact with developing T cells. By comparing findings from animal models to patient data from inflammatory bowel disease, Dr. Wang aims to uncover how defects in this “immune education” contribute to chronic inflammation. This knowledge could reveal new strategies to prevent autoimmunity and guide the safer design of cancer immunotherapies that modulate immune tolerance.
Dr. Wang brings an interdisciplinary background spanning bioinformatics, developmental biology, and immunology. His earlier research uncovered how cells regulate growth, tissue organization, and migration—fundamental processes that maintain healthy tissues and, when disrupted, contribute to cancer and immune imbalance. Building on this foundation, he now applies advanced molecular and computational approaches to uncover how the thymus maintains immune tolerance, with the goal of translating these insights into strategies to prevent autoimmunity and improve immune-based cancer therapies.
Sponsor
Diane Mathis, PhD
Projects and Grants
Tolerization of Goblet Cell Self-Antigens by Thymic Mimetic Cells
