Projects | Project Area A

Project A01

Dynamics, epigenetic signatures and modulating factors of tissue Treg cell differentiation

Background

Treg cells in non-lymphoid tissues are important to promote organ homeostasis and tissue repair and their generation follows a stepwise, multi-site process, accompanied by extensive epigenome remodeling, finally leading to the acquisition of unique tissue-specific epigenetic signatures.

We hypothesize that an in-depth understanding of the mechanisms causing tissue-specific Treg cell differentiation and functional specialization and the comparison of mouse and human tissue Treg cells will allow for the generation of future therapeutic applications.

Strategy

We will investigate the human tissue Treg cell epigenetic landscape using elegant techniques on the single-cell level and compare them to mouse datasets to compute species-conserved tissue Treg signatures and define shared epigenetic programs and driver transcription factors. Furthermore, we will explore modulating factors such as the postnatal period and microbial metabolites on tissue Treg cells.