Type 2 Cytokines: A Story of Macrophages, Matrix & Metazoan Parasites

Host

Carlos Minutti, PhD, Immunoregulation Lab

Venue

Seminar room

Abstract

Metazoan parasites (helminths) typically induce a ‘type 2’ immune response, which is fundamentally different from the host response to microbial pathogens. Type 2 immune pathways not only target the parasites but also suppress inflammation and promote extracellular matrix deposition thus limiting the damage caused by these tissue migrating worms. Macrophages with a distinct type 2 expression profile and are found in high numbers at the site of helminth infection, but also in non-infectious settings such as tissue injury.  By studying macrophages activated by the type 2 immune response during helminth infection, we are discovering new pathways involved in tissue repair. In particular, the type 2 cytokine IL-13 is implicated in regulating multiple aspects of the extracellular matrix from mucus production to collagen deposition to formation of glycosaminoglycan (GAG) networks. While these responses are host protective during helminth infection, they are major causes of pathology in other disease settings including Covid-19.

Biography

Professor Judi Allen obtained her PhD from University of California, Berkeley in 1991 following several years in the Biotech industry. She went to Imperial College, London for her postdoc and subsequently moved to Edinburgh, where she established her own group with an MRC Senior Fellowship in 1997.  In 2005, Judi became Professor of Immunobiology and in 2016 joined the Faculty of Biology, Medicine & Health at the University of Manchester. Judi has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (2023), a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and is an EMBO member. 

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About CR Colloquia Series

Champalimaud Research (CR) Colloquia Series is a seminar programme organised by the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown to promote the discussion about the most interesting and significant questions in neuroscience and physiology & cancer with appointed speakers by the CR Community.