This project will investigate the factors that regulate the development and maintenance of a recently identified population of white blood cells called MAIT cells. MAIT cells are abundant in humans yet poorly understood. A better understanding of how these cells are regulated, and how they can be targeted in diseases, is necessary if we want to ultimately use these cells for immunotherapy.
Elucidating Immune Responses By Single Cell Pedigree And Tracing Analysis
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$666,950.00
Summary
To develop vaccines and to combat autoimmunity, we need to understand how initial immune activation influences the fate of immune cells and their progeny. To achieve this, we have developed microscopic techniques and analytical software with which to observe how initial signalling processes in the parent immune cell influence the death, proliferation and differentiation of its daughters, granddaughters and further progeny. We will use these approaches to determine how immune cell fate is control
Dendritic cells (DCs) are the body’s sentinels, with three specialized subtypes. They monitor for infections and cancer and then activate immune T cells to clear it. Interestingly, they can all arise from a single cell, but the precise steps are unknown. By literally filming this process and analyzing the movie, we hope to draw the ‘family trees’ that lead to their generation. This knowledge will offer crucial clues as to how to boost or reduce their numbers for medical applications.