[2015 Fall Life Sciences & IBB Regular Seminar]
            
              
          ▶Subject: Visualizing and manipulating immunity with light
            
          ▶Speaker: Prof. Minsoo Kim (Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Univ. of Rochester)
                    
          ▶Date: 4:00PM/Sept.18(Fri.)/2015
             
          ▶Place: Auditorium(1F), Postech Biotech Center
            
                  *Abctract
                (1) Infected tissues often harbor an array of diverse tissue-specific and inflammation-induced chemokines, which guides effector T cell migration and retention. Both in vitro and in vivo imaging shows that migrating neutrophils leave long-lasting trails from their uropods at the infected trachea. Neutrophil-derived trails contain prominently enriched chemokine CXCL12 and provide both chemotactic and haptotactic cues for efficient CD8 T cell migration and tissue localization. Our data suggest that early tissue-infiltrating neutrophils deposit chemokine-containing trails, which may function as a long-lasting chemokine depot guiding antigen-specific effector CD8 T cell responses in the influenza-infected tissues.
(2) Adoptive cell transfer (ACT) of ex vivo generated T cells has been used with some success. However, effective trafficking of the transferred cells to the target tissue sites is the main barrier to achieving successful clinical outcomes. Here, we developed a strategy for optically controlling T cell trafficking using a photoactivatable (PA) chemokine receptor. Localized activation of PA-CXCR4 induced T cell directional migration (“phototaxis”) both in vitro and in vivo. Directing light onto the melanoma was sufficient to recruit PA-CXCR4-expressing tumor-targeting cytotoxic T cells and induce a significant reduction in tumor growth in mice. These findings suggest that the use of photoactivatable chemokine receptors allows remotely controlled leukocyte trafficking and may be feasible in other cell transfer therapies.

                 
         ▶Inquiry: Prof. You-Me Kim (T. 279-0689) 
     
            * This seminar will be given in English.
        please refrain from taking photos during seminars. *