Hedgehog signalling in gamma delta T-cell differentiation

T细胞是白色血细胞，它使我们能够通过攻击感染和协调免疫反应来对抗传染病。T细胞是在一个叫做胸腺的器官中产生的。胸腺是必不可少的，因为出生时没有胸腺的人没有T细胞，不能对抗传染病，但在青春期后，胸腺变得更小，它产生的T细胞更少，在老年人中，它不能很好地发挥作用。该项目将研究一种罕见的T细胞类型称为γ δ T细胞是如何在不同的生命阶段在胸腺中产生的。γ δ T细胞是不寻常的，因为在胎儿发育过程中，不同类型的这些细胞在不同的时间产生，然后这些不同类型的细胞迁移到身体的不同组织，如皮肤，肠道，肝脏和肺，在那里它们在个体的整个生命周期中停留。γ-δ细胞在这些部位对预防感染很重要，但它们也会变得过度活跃并引起炎症，因此了解是什么控制它们是很重要的。γ δ细胞也在出生后的胸腺中产生，但出生后产生的γ δ T细胞与胎儿不同。该项目将研究为什么胸腺在不同的生命阶段产生不同种类的γ δ T细胞，并将研究与年轻成人胸腺相比，老年胸腺中产生的γ δ细胞种类。特别是，我们将研究Shh和Gli 3蛋白如何控制不同生命阶段的γ δ T细胞发育。

T-cells are white blood cells that enable us to fight infectious disease by attacking infections and also by coordinating the immune response. T-cells are produced in an organ called the thymus. The thymus is essential, as people born without a thymus have no T-cells and cannot fight infectious disease, but after adolescence the thymus becomes smaller and it makes fewer T-cells and in elderly people it does not function well. This project will investigate how a rare type of T-cells called gamma delta T-cells are produced in the thymus at different life-stages. Gamma delta T cells are unusual because during development in the foetus different types of these cells are made at different times and then these different types of cell migrate to different tissues in the body, such as skin, gut, liver and lung, where they stay throughout the life span of the individual. Gamma delta cells are important at these sites to prevent infections, but they can also become over-active and cause inflammation so it is important to understand what controls them. Gamma delta cells are also made in the thymus after birth but different kinds of gamma delta T-cells are made after birth than in the foetus. This project will investigate why the thymus makes different kinds of gamma delta T-cells at different life-stages and will investigate what kinds of gamma delta cells are made in the old thymus compared to young adult thymus. In particular, we will investigate how proteins called Shh and Gli3 control gamma delta T-cell development at different life-stages.