Signalisation of cytokine

In vivo visualizing the dynamics of cytokine-targeting cells

Fellows Fribourg-Strasbourg: Mei Li and Jianying Yang
Post-docs: John Lindner and Simone Reipschläger

The current FRIAS-USIAS project joins forces of the group of Dr. Mei LI (mouse modeling systems for cytokine functional study) at IGBMC, and the group of Dr. Jianying YANG (synthetic biology toolkit and advanced imaging technologies for membrane protein signaling study) at MPI-IE, in order to conduct a highly original research for better understanding the in vivo signaling of cytokine TSLP (thymic stromal lymphopoietin), a key player involved in multiple disease states including atopic diseases (e.g. atopic dermatitis and asthma). The research aims at developing a novel research concept of visualizing the dynamics of cytokine-targeting cells in tissue microenvironment, by employing innovative analysis strategies and methodological frameworks that combine the advanced microscopy and imaging technologies, synthetic biology toolkit, aptamer-based sensors, and mouse modeling and genetic tools. The study is expected to break a new interdisciplinary research ground in cytokine biology, cell signaling and in vivo imaging, and to provide powerful tools for research and medical application.