Aims
Elucidate the role of immune cells and of their products in age-related pathologies; Develop and test new immunotherapeutic strategies; Elucidate the impact of ageing on immune cell function
Leader name(s)
Pr N. Glaichenhaus
Pr B. Seitz-Polski
General description
Immune cells play a critical role in several age-related pathologies including lung cancer, head and neck tumours, and neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore, drugs and monoclonal antibodies that target immune cells or their products have been approved for treatment or are currently being tested in clinical trials. This WP has been designed
- to provide new insight into the role of immune cells in age-related human pathologies,
- to implement new immunotherapeutic strategies targeting specific immune cell types or their products and
- to better understand how ageing alter immune cell function in healthy individuals and patients.
- Task Title
- Investigate the distribution and phenotype of innate and adaptive immune cells in blood and tissues
- Task Description
Antibodies directed to specific surface antigens could be used to visualize, sort and characterize the activation status of different immune cell types.
We will use state-of-the-art imaging platforms (flow cytometry, confocal microscopy) to characterize activated immune cells in model pathologies.
If relevant, immune cell cytotoxicity, proliferation and survival will be further characterized using a cell multimode imager.
- Task Improvement
- Clinical research: Better understanding of the role of the immune system in model pathologies; identification of novel prognosis biomarkers.
- Reachable in 2 years
- Task Title
- Measure cytokine and chemokine levels in body fluids
- Task Description
Cytokines are polypeptides that are produced by, and act on, several cell types including innate and adaptive immune cells.
We will use a robust, highly sensitive and standardized multi-array platform to measure the levels of 40 different cytokines levels in body fluids and tissue specimens
- Task Improvement
- Clinical research: Better understanding of the role of the immune system in model pathologies; identification of novel prognosis biomarkers.
- Reachable in 2 years
- Task Title
- Characterize auto reactive immunoglobulin (Ig) specificity and isotype
- Task Description
Whether they contribute to pathology or are only disease biomarkers, autoantibodies to organ-specific antigens have been associated with disease progression in several pathologies.
We will monitor the presence and analyse the specificity of autoantibodies in serum and tissue specimens.
- Task Improvement
- Clinical research: Better understanding of the role of the immune system in model pathologies; identification of potential surrogate biomarkers of disease progression.
- Reachable in 3 years
- Task Title
- Test new Immunotherapeutic protocols
- Task Description
We will test new immunotherapeutic strategies in model pathologies and develop tools to monitor serum levels of these new drugs overtime.
- Task Improvement
- Care: Improving patient care
- Reachable in 5 years
- Task Title
- Investigate the impact of ageing on immune cells in healthy individuals
- Task Description
We will use state-of-the-art technologies, as well as a recently described syringe-based collection-culture system that facilitate standardized measurements of ex vivo innate or adaptive immune responsiveness to study the impact of ageing on immune cells.
- Task Improvement
- Fundamental research: Better understanding of molecular and cellular immune mechanisms associated with ageing
- Reachable in 5 years