Stabilizing Regulatory T-cell Function in Vitiligo Using Treg-promoting Genes FoxP3 and TIGIT
Session Number
BIO 02
Advisor(s)
Dr. Caroline Le Poole, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine
Rohan Shivde, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine
Discipline
Biology
Start Date
17-4-2024 10:45 AM
End Date
17-4-2024 11:00 AM
Abstract
Melanocytes are highly differentiated cells that produce pigment melanin inside melanosomes. Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease characterized by the immune system attacking melanocytes. The result is symmetric white patches on the skin devoid of melanin. While there is no cure for vitiligo, researchers have found too few regulatory T cells (Tregs) in the skin of patients with vitiligo, and injecting Tregs into mice can help stop the progression of the disease. However, this requires consistent reinjection of Tregs into mice, or the vitiligo will return. In this project, we introduce FoxP3 and TIGIT genes into DNA constructs to see if these Treg-promoting genes have lasting effects in stabilizing Treg function. Initially, the construct we developed contained both the TIGIT and FoxP3 genes, which proved problematic as the construct was too large for effective introduction into T cells. We decided to create two constructs that only had either one of the stabilizing genes to compare and contrast their efficacy to maintain a regulatory phenotype of host T cells. Currently, we are ligating the plasmid and genes together so we have the construct needed to examine if there are lasting effects on transduced Treg stability and efficacy in vitro in functional assays.
Stabilizing Regulatory T-cell Function in Vitiligo Using Treg-promoting Genes FoxP3 and TIGIT
Melanocytes are highly differentiated cells that produce pigment melanin inside melanosomes. Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease characterized by the immune system attacking melanocytes. The result is symmetric white patches on the skin devoid of melanin. While there is no cure for vitiligo, researchers have found too few regulatory T cells (Tregs) in the skin of patients with vitiligo, and injecting Tregs into mice can help stop the progression of the disease. However, this requires consistent reinjection of Tregs into mice, or the vitiligo will return. In this project, we introduce FoxP3 and TIGIT genes into DNA constructs to see if these Treg-promoting genes have lasting effects in stabilizing Treg function. Initially, the construct we developed contained both the TIGIT and FoxP3 genes, which proved problematic as the construct was too large for effective introduction into T cells. We decided to create two constructs that only had either one of the stabilizing genes to compare and contrast their efficacy to maintain a regulatory phenotype of host T cells. Currently, we are ligating the plasmid and genes together so we have the construct needed to examine if there are lasting effects on transduced Treg stability and efficacy in vitro in functional assays.