20-BBSRC/NSF-BIO Regulatory control of innate immune response in marine invertebrates

动物生活在不断变化的环境中，微生物丰富。免疫系统通过消除致病微生物和促进有益微生物群的生长来协调动物和微生物之间复杂、动态的关系。然而，我们对包括脊椎动物在内的大多数动物门的先天免疫机制的了解仍然有限。这项拟议的研究通过利用棘皮幼虫的实验优势来研究相对未被探索的动物谱系中的免疫反应，从而解决了这一相当大的知识鸿沟。棘皮幼虫是形态简单、自由游动的多细胞生物体，配备了复杂的细胞和分子免疫系统。通过将最近可用的几种棘皮动物的测序数据与单细胞分辨率的基因表达测量技术相结合，拟议的研究将极大地促进我们对动物免疫的理解。这项建议描述了一种协作的、系统级的方法来定义控制不同棘皮动物物种免疫反应的调节机制。这一创新的分析将揭示进化上保守的免疫反应原理以及物种特有的适应。

Animals live in constantly changing environments that are rich in microbial life. Immune systems orchestrate the complex, dynamic relationships between animals and microbes by both eliminating pathogenic microbes as well as promoting the growth of beneficial microbiota. However, our understanding of innate immune mechanisms in most animal phyla, including vertebrates, remains limited. The proposed research addresses this considerable knowledge gap by exploiting the experimental advantages of echinoderm larvae to investigate immune responses in a relatively unexplored animal lineage. Echinoderm larvae are morphologically simple, free-swimming multicellular organisms equipped with a sophisticated cellular and molecular immune system. By integrating recently available sequencing data from several echinoderm species with technology for measuring gene expression at single-cell resolution, the proposed research will significantly advance our understanding of animal immunity. This proposal describes a collaborative, systems-level approach to define the regulatory mechanisms that control immune responses across different echinoderm species. This innovative analysis will reveal evolutionarily conserved principles of immune response as well as species-specific adaptations.