Population Dynamics Of Tissue-specific Effector And Regulatory CD4+ T Cells
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$394,250.00
Summary
Survival of white blood cells in the body is an active process and is important for the maintainence of a T cell population which can recognise a wide variety of foreign antigens. At present the fate of T lymphocytes which recognise self antigens is unclear. Knowledge of the survival kinetics of self-reactive T lymphocytes and the mechanism by which they are regulated in the normal individual is crucial to be able to control the development of various diseases, including autoimmune diseases. Fro ....Survival of white blood cells in the body is an active process and is important for the maintainence of a T cell population which can recognise a wide variety of foreign antigens. At present the fate of T lymphocytes which recognise self antigens is unclear. Knowledge of the survival kinetics of self-reactive T lymphocytes and the mechanism by which they are regulated in the normal individual is crucial to be able to control the development of various diseases, including autoimmune diseases. From our previous studies of autoimmune gastritis we have generated cell lines of lymphocytes that recognise stomach-specific antigens and with these unique reagents we will perform experiments to determine the fate of these self-reactive T cells in a normal individual. Also we will determine the impact of different amounts of the tissue antigens on the survival and activation of self-reactive T cells, and finally how a special class of lymphocytes, know as regulatory lymphocytes, act in vivo to control the activity of self-reactive T cells. We will use not only classical immunological approaches to address these issues but also state of the art imaging, to visualise the nature of the cell interactions in living tissues. The information arising from this work will underpin strategies to selectively turn off self-reactive lymphocytes that cause disease, will form the basis of clinical development of cell based therapies to treat autoimmune diseases, and the imaging technologies developed in this grant will have wide applicability to the study of a range of immune responses.Read moreRead less
Regulation Of T Cell Effector Function In Peripheral Tissues
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$698,550.00
Summary
Protection from infections relies on different types of immune cells. While some of these cells are found in the blood, others reside in peripheral tissues such as the skin. We will analyse the function of these peripheral immune cells to understand how they work to fight off infections. We will also investigate how so-called memory cells that permanently reside in peripheral tissues can protect from re-infection with similar bacteria or viruses.
Identifying The Ontogeny And Fate Of T Follicular Helper Cells By Two-photon Photoconversion
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$623,070.00
Summary
The aim of this proposal is to investigate immune cells called T follicular helper cells using a novel microscopy-based method that we have developed. This method lets us ‘tag’ these cells in a way that enables us to distinguish them from all other cells and follow them as they migrate to different immunological compartments during the response. T follicular helper cells are important for protective immune responses against pathogens and a better understanding of this T cell subset will aid vacc ....The aim of this proposal is to investigate immune cells called T follicular helper cells using a novel microscopy-based method that we have developed. This method lets us ‘tag’ these cells in a way that enables us to distinguish them from all other cells and follow them as they migrate to different immunological compartments during the response. T follicular helper cells are important for protective immune responses against pathogens and a better understanding of this T cell subset will aid vaccine design.Read moreRead less
Characterisation And Development Of Type-2 NKT Cells
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$853,885.00
Summary
Humans defend themselves from foreign pathogens by mounting a protective immune response. Type-2 NKT cells recognise foreign lipid molecules and play a key role in immunity. This project is designed to understand to how Type-2 NKT cells develop within the body, how they recognise lipid molecules and how they carry out their immune functions. This work will have important implications in understanding the role of NKT cells in human health and disease.
Molecular And Cellular Control Of Human Th9 Cell Differentiation In Health And Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$550,888.00
Summary
T helper 9 (Th9) cells are a recently defined population of CD4+ T cells that have been implicated in immunological disorders ranging from allergy, asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, and cancer, to host defence against fungal and parasitic infections. As such, Th9 cells are extremely important to human health and disease. This project aims to define the mechanisms involved in the generation, regulation and function of human Th9 cells.
The Impact Of Micropolymorphism Within The T Cell Receptor Genes And Their Target Antigenic Peptides
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$365,126.00
Summary
T lymphocytes play a pivotal role in the immune system by recognising virus-infected tissue through the use of highly specific T cell receptors (TCRs). This project will investigate the importance of genetic variation in the TCR genes in influencing how we fight infections. Another aim is to examine how the immune system tolerates genetic variation in an infecting virus. Advances in these areas will aid in the development of new "intelligent" vaccines.
The Mezzanine T Cell Response: Intervening At The Coal Face
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$765,585.00
Summary
In an initial immune response, specialised cells in lymph nodes tell T cells to multiply; the stimulated T cells depart and enter target tissue (e.g. lung in the case of flu). We describe a new response whereby the target tissue itself can tell T cells to multiply further. This response in target tissues reveals a new way of altering immune responses. This is especially important as in many diseases, the primary lymph node response has already occurred, so cannot be therapeutically intervened.
Investigating The Role Of TGF-beta In Resident Memory T Cell Induction And Maintenance
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$92,495.00
Summary
I am a research scientist interested in the immune system. Specifically, I intend to investigate immunological memory, which is the basis of vaccination. This refers to the ability of certain immune cells such as T and B cells to ‘remember’ a pathogen, so that a rapid and enhanced response can be generated upon re-infection with the same pathogen. This can be investigated by experimental techniques such as flow cytometry, histology and confocal microscopy on cells from infected mouse tissue.