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Find out about the Institute's research on T cell homeostasis.
What does homeostasis of T cells mean and why is it important to understand how it works?
The composition of the T cell compartment is heterogenous both in terms of different types of T cells and in their states of differentiation. What is remarkable is that this composition is relatively stable throughout life suggesting that:
1. there must be specific homeostatic mechanisms controlling this composition, and
2. that this is an optimal configuration for effective immunity
Characterising the mechanisms of T cell homeostasis is important for understanding how the immune system functions normally and how dysfunction results in disease. The key questions my research programme is addressing are:
1. How are T cells generated in sufficient numbers and in an optimally functional state?
2. How are T cells kept alive and functional between infections?
Numbers of mature T cells are maintained by balancing cell production, division and death. We are specifically interested in the role that TCR signals and cytokines play in these processes since they are required throughout a T cell life.
The key questions my programme is addressing are:
1. How are T cells generated in sufficient numbers and in an optimally functional state?
2. How are T cells kept alive and functional between infections?