Project B04
Microbiota-induced intestinal Treg cells modulate neuroinflammation
Background
In recent years, the complex interplay of the gut microbiota with intestinal immune cells has experienced enormous research efforts. We could earlier show that Treg cells can be enriched in the intestinal compartment through manipulation of the gut microbiota composition, consequently ameliorating secondary neuroinflammation after stroke. Likewise, the intestinal microbiota can improve the disease outcome in experimental models of MS.
We hypothesize that microbial factors mediate the development of intestinal Treg cells, which can down-tune neuroinflammation and improve long-term recovery in ischemic stroke and MS.
Strategy
We employ the well-established animal models of stroke and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) to test whether specific microbiota metabolites can induce intestinal Treg cells that consequently promote brain protection. We furthermore aim to test whether the microbiota of human stroke patients recapitulate the Treg features observed in rodents by performing fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT).