A seminar hosted by the School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine
Immunological memory is classically associated with cells of the adaptive immune system. There is growing evidence, however, that innate and non-immune cells can show sustained changes following an infection or insult, impacting on how the host responds to future challenges.
We investigate how cells in the lungs are altered following infection with influenza A virus (IAV) in the short and longer term taking advantage of reporter mouse strains to identify relevant cell populations. Through flow cytometry, immunofluorescence imaging, and transcriptomics, we characterise how immune and lung structural cells respond to and are changed by the infection.
In this talk, I will cover the importance of interactions between CD4 T cells and MHCII+ cells in shaping the location and function of IAV-specific memory CD4 T cells. I will also discuss the long-term changes to lung epithelial cells following IAV infection and the altered ability of these cells to control a subsequent IAV challenge.
These data are important in expanding our understanding of which cells can display characteristics of immune memory. The knowledge can help us plan which cells and molecular pathways could be manipulated to enhance or decrease lung immune response in the context of infection or chronic inflammation respectively.