Hosted by the School of Medicine at Cardiff University

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Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) secreted by lymphatic endothelial cells guides lymphocyte exit from lymph nodes and Peyer's patches into lymph and plays a newly-appreciated role in maintaining T cell numbers. We will discuss how lymphatic endothelial cells regulate T cell migration and survival.

Dr Susan Schwab is an Associate Professor at the Department of Pathology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Her laboratory investigates trafficking of normal and transformed T cells. Much of our focus has been on how the residence time of T cells in lymphoid organs is determined. We have established that a gradient of the signaling lipid sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) is required to guide T cells out of lymphoid organs, defined many of the key cells and enzymes that control this gradient, and developed novel tools to map the gradient. Our work has suggested new targets for immune suppressive drugs that modulate S1P signaling, trapping T cells in lymphoid organs and preventing them from accessing sites of inflammation. We have recently turned our attention to trafficking of transformed T cells out of lymphoid organs. We have found that T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) cells require the chemokine receptor CXCR4 for disease progression, a result that suggests a new strategy for T-ALL therapy.