T cell homeostasis
Thursday 5 March 2009
Dr. Kiki Tesselaar
Project
The peripheral T cell compartment is a highly dynamic compartment that can undergo dramatic changes. Still, far into old age it tends to keep a steady state number of cells, showing that it is under control of homeostatic mechanisms. For adequate T cell responses however, T-cell diversity should also be preserved. Since only thymic output can create T cell receptor diversity, it is thus important to know the relative contribution of peripheral mechanisms vs. thymic output in the maintenance of the peripheral (naïve) T cell pool.
We use novel techniques, like in vivo bioluminescence, inducible transgenic mice and deuterium labeling of DNA in combination with mathematical modeling, and comparison of situations with different thymic output, i.e. mice of different age, to address our research questions.
Research project:
Questions which could be addressed in a project within this subject are the following:
Techniques
Mice manipulation, FACS analysis, cell culture, molecular biological techniques
Duration
6 or 9 months
Contact
Dr. Kiki Tesselaar, k.tesselaar@umcutrecht.nl, 088 75 539 45
Dr. Kristin Denzer, k.denzer@umcutrecht.nl, 088 75 576 73
More information
UMC Utrecht website - Dept. of Immunology
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