Differential signaling between effector and regulatory T-cells. Upon TCR stimulation effector T-cells initiate multiple intracellular signaling cascades, among them the mTOR and the NF-kB pathway.
This ultimately leads to the induction of effector functions. Treg differentially integrate stimulating signals, e.g. showing attenuated mTOR and NF-kB signaling. These principles can be exploited in vitro to polarize stable Treg from effector T-cells. (Ziegler et al., FEBS J, 2020)
Techniques and infrastructure of the research group:
The group has expertise in the manipulation of human primary peripheral blood T-cells. To that end we use retroviral and lentiviral overexpression systems and CRISPR/Cas9 based genome engineering, following protocols of the Marson group (Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, USA). As a main readout, phenotypic, functional and metabolic parameters of T-cells are determined by multicolor flow cytometry. Our group also has expertise in standard cloning, biochemical and bioenergetic assays.