Research Theme

Optogenetic approaches to tracking immune cell function in inflammatory responses

Antibodies against autoantigens and enviromental antigens can induce chronic inflammatory diseases. Regulation by specialized subsets of T cells is critical in the antibody response, and functional alterations of the T cell subsets likely play important roles in the pathogenesis. In this study, it is aimed to develop methods to genetically modifiy the T cell subsets during live imaging of immune responses. The optogenetics methods will be used to track functional alterations of the T cells in inflammatory disease models and to undrstand their roles in the disease development.

Research Results