Project description
Molecular characterisation of macrophages in the liver
Macrophages are specialised immune cells capable of phagocytosing pathogens and activating T cell-mediated responses. They are present in different organs including the lung and the brain and perform specific functions. The EU-funded Liver ID3ntity project focuses on Kupffer cells, the macrophages of the liver. Researchers are interested to determine the molecular mechanisms that drive Kupffer cell function and how these are driven by the interaction with liver cells. The project will evolve around ID3, a key transcription factor of Kupffer cell identity, and offer fundamental knowledge in liver homeostasis and pathology.
Objective
Macrophages perform unique tissue-specific functions that are essential for the homeostasis of each organ. To perform these tissue-specific functions, each resident macrophage expresses a relatively unique gene expression profile controlled by specific transcription factors. Kupffer cells (KCs) are the biggest macrophage population of the body and represent 10% of all liver cells. The Guilliams lab recently reported that each KC projects an important part of its body across the liver endothelial cell barrier to be in close contact with hepatocytes. We have established that the transcription factor ID3 is highly expressed in murine KCs as compared to other macrophages, is highly preserved in KCs across 5 different species and is essential for controlling KC identity in vivo. We have recently reported that monocytes co-cultured with hepatocytes, but not with liver endothelial cells or liver fibroblasts, acquire strong ID3 expression, indicating that hepatocyte-derived signals induce ID3 expression. The objective of this proposal is to utilise ID3-expression in KCs to unravel the molecular mechanisms underlying the KC-Hepatocyte crosstalk. Since nothing is known about the hepatocyte-derived signals that induce ID3 expression in myeloid cells, I will utilize a genome-wide in vitro CRISPR screen to identify positive and negative regulators of the ID3 expression induced by hepatocytes. The result of this in vitro ID3-screen will then be combined with potential regulators predicted through epigenetic and ligand-receptor inference algorithms, to obtain our top candidates for genes involved in the liver KC-Hepatocyte crosstalk. Using cutting-edge technology combining direct guide-RNA capture with single-cell RNA sequencing, I will then perform a targeted in vivo CRISPR screen. Finally, I will knock-down the most interesting hits from this in vivo screen using CRE-Lox technology to understand the role of specific KC-Hepatocyte interactions in liver homeostasis and pathology.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
- natural sciencesbiological sciencescell biologycell signaling
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinephysiologyhomeostasis
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Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinator
9052 ZWIJNAARDE - GENT
Belgium