Regulation of the immune response: the role of integrin alphavbeta8 and TGF-beta in immune homeostasis and response to pathogens.
The immune system functions to detect and destroy harmful pathogens that enter the body. Upon infection, the immune system is rapidly activated, to ensure the threat is dealt with as quickly as possible. However, in healthy individuals it is vital that the immune system is kept in a resting state to prevent tissues of the body from being attacked; a process that results in debilitating autoimmune disease. A vital area of research is concerned with understanding the pathways and molecules that control the balance between a resting and active immune system. We have recently identified a vital pathway which prevents the immune system from attacking tissues of the body. When a protein molecule called integrin alphavbeta8 is not present on the dendritic cells of the immune system, severe autoimmune disease occurs. The work proposed here aims to study this pathway in more detail, looking at which specific types of cell in the immune system are important, and to determine what happens to this pathway during active immune responses to infection. Such work will provide important insights into how animals and humans successfully deal with infection, and how the immune system is tightly regulated to prevent autoimmune disease.
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Imported from UKRI Gateway to Research | Grant 026F60B3-68D9-43A8-8985-02225F14B1E2.
Open sourceOverview
Grant agreement 026F60B3-68D9-43A8-8985-02225F14B1E2
Open sourceThe immune system functions to detect and destroy harmful pathogens that enter the body. Upon infection, the immune system is rapidly activated, to ensure the threat is dealt with as quickly as possible. However, in healthy individuals it is vital that the immune system is kept in a resting state to prevent tissues of the body from being attacked; a process that results in debilitating autoimmune disease. A vital area of research is concerned with understanding the pathways and molecules that control the balance between a resting and active immune system. We have recently identified a vital pathway which prevents the immune system from attacking tissues of the body. When a protein molecule called integrin alphavbeta8 is not present on the dendritic cells of the immune system, severe autoimmune disease occurs. The work proposed here aims to study this pathway in more detail, looking at which specific types of cell in the immune system are important, and to determine what happens to this pathway during active immune responses to infection. Such work will provide important insights into how animals and humans successfully deal with infection, and how the immune system is tightly regulated to prevent autoimmune disease.