Dissecting the ontogeny of T cell memory by single-cell fate mapping

• Applicant: Dr. Jan Rohr
• Subject Area: Immunology ; Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine
• Term: from 2014 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 255277698

The efficacy of prophylactic vaccinations relies on their ability to induce long-lasting, protective immunological memory. However, the development of effective vaccines for a number of clinically relevant infectious diseases has so far been unsuccessful. This is attributable to an incomplete understanding of how immunological memory develops and hence how protective immunity against infections can be engineered by vaccination. In recent years, I have co-developed novel, state-of-the art in vivo lineage-tracing technologies, which will allow me to clarify previously unresolved fundamental aspects of how immunological memory is formed. Specifically, I will use these methods to address whether T lymphocyte diversification into short-lived and memory cells is 1.) controlled at the single cell or at the population level, 2.) is directed by cell-intrinsic or -extrinsic mechanisms and 3.) is influenced by time- or cell division-dependent mechanisms. Answering these seminal questions will provide fundamental knowledge about the formation of immunological memory and thus facilitate the development of optimized vaccination strategies.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants