Concurrent Symposia Sessions

Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Natcher Conference Center
Symposia Session I
Conference Room E1/E2

T cell Heterogeneity and Plasticity in Inflammatory and Immune Disease	2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Chair: Yasmine Belkaid, NIAID

Sponsored by the Immunology Interest Group

Elimination of microbial pathogens requires coordinated efforts between innate and adaptive immune cells.  CD4+ T cells are critical for tailoring immune responses, such that pathogens are eliminated with minimal collateral damage to the host.  Our recognition of the complexity of CD4+ T cells has greatly expanded in recent years.  In addition to Thelper1 (Th1), Th2 and regulatory T (Treg) cells, another important subset, termed Th17 cells, has been identified.  Furthermore, we now know that the repertoire of cytokines produced by T cells is more complex than initially envisioned.  For instance, all of the subsets have the capacity to produce the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10.  This new understanding of T cells allows for a more sophisticated understanding of autoimmune mechanisms, but also present new challenges.  It is important to understand what truly constitutes lineages versus plasticity of responses.   How is flexibility balanced with differentiation and to what extent do subsets represent terminal differentiation.  Additionally, it is necessary define what factors are responsible for the phenotype of the subsets and dissect their role in host defense and autoimmunity.  The increased complexity also presents challenges in designing vaccines, as our understanding of optimal responses far from complete. 

Program

Stability of Regulatory T cells
Yasmine Belkaid, NIAID

Analysis of Suppressor Function of Human FOXP3+ Regulatory T cells
Dat Tran, NIAID

Autoaggressive Effectors in the Immune Privileged Eye: Th1 or Th17?
Rachel Caspi, NEI 

Transcription Factor Network in CD4 T cell Fate Determination
Jeff Zhu, NIAID

Th17 cell Depletion in Humans
Daniel Douek, NIAID