Full Title: Dichotic control of T cell tolerance and effector restriction during human fetal development
Major Category: Research and Disease Areas
Subcategory: Immune System Development
By Leong Jing Yao (Team Lead),
Lai Liyun,
Phyllis Chen
The embryonic development of the immmune system is a finely controlled and calibrated process. We seek to understand, in particular, how the ontogeny of T cells occurs across early and mid gestation in healthy foetus. Currently we are performing high-dimensional interrogating of single cell phenotypying with CyToF on fetal circulatory and tissue samples. We have observed parallel and redundant control in both T cell effector and regulatory compartment across the gestation period and anatomical sites. Translational insights into T cell development could address challenges experienced in in-uterine stem cell therapy, where fetal rejection is an issue. The gestational therapeutic window and the level of T cell immune-competence is pertinent to understanding how therapeutic modulation can be better achieved.
