Identification of precursors of innate lymphoid cells

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K15149
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Immunology
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University (2016-2017); The University of Tokyo (2015)
• Principal Investigator: Sawa Shinichiro 北海道大学, 遺伝子病制御研究所, 准教授 (80611756)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 自然リンパ球 / 分化 / 網羅的遺伝子発現解析 / リンパ節形成

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Lymphoid Tissue inducer (LTi) cell is a member of group 3 innate lymphoid cell required for lymph node organogenesis. So far, the developmental pathway of LTi cell was not precisely investigated, Additionally, the microenvironment required for the maturation of LTi cell was not identified yet. In this research, using comprehensive transcriptome analysis, I tried to identify factors required for LTi cell maturation in vivo.
In the lymph node anlagen, mesenchymal cells express RANKL and LTi cells express RANK, a receptor for RANKL. In vitro, RANK signal upregulates maturation markers of LTi cells. Moreover, LTi cell specific RANK deficient mice lack all the lymph nodes. From these results, I concluded that RANKL expressed by mesenchymal cells in the lymph node anlagen is the critical factor for the terminal differentiation of LTi cells in vivo.

Free Research Field

免疫学