The molecular basis of regulatory T cell recruitment to the inflamed liver

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Immune system of body recognise and attack invading non-self antigen at the same time recongnize the self antigen. Most chronic liver diseases occur as a consequence of the recruitment from blood of white blood cells called T cells which are designed to fight infection but as a side-effect also cause tissue damage. In recent years a subset of T cells called regulatory cells (Treg) has been described which suppresses tissue damage caused by other T cells. These cells evolved to prevent collateral damage during immune responses to infections but recent evidence suggests they are important in chronic inflammation, transplant rejection, autoimmune diseases and tumor immune response. Consistent with this, I have detected increased numbers of Treg in patients with chronic inflammatory liver diseases. I hypothesise that particular Treg will be recruited to the liver during inflammation and that specific molecules will control this process. I plan to test this hypothesis using a combined approach in which the homing behaviour of these cells in studied in human systems in vitro as well as by transferring cells in vivo. These studies will be among the first to investigate how Treg are recruited form the blood into sites of liver inflammation and may suggest new treatments for inflammatory liver diseases in which the number of local Treg within the tissue is manipulated in favour of resolution of inflammation.