Cellular Immunometabolism
Aim of the research
Our group aims to unravel the metabolic cues present in the microenvironments and intracellular metabolic programs that shape immune cell function in health and in disease with a particular focus on how metabolism regulates the functional properties of DCs and macrophages in infection and cancer. Ultimately, the goal is to identify novel metabolic pathways in DCs and macrophages that could be targeted to direct their function for improving vaccination efficacy and cancer therapies.
…Our group aims to unravel the metabolic cues present in the microenvironments and intracellular metabolic programs that shape immune cell function in health and in disease with a particular focus on how metabolism regulates the functional properties of DCs and macrophages in infection and cancer. Ultimately, the goal is to identify novel metabolic pathways in DCs and macrophages that could be targeted to direct their function for improving vaccination efficacy and cancer therapies.
Main research questions
- What are the metabolic requirements for DCs to prime and polarize different T cell responses?
- How does the metabolic micro-environment affect the functional properties of dendritic cells and macrophages in cancer, obesity and autoimmune diseases?
- How do metabolic sensors AMPK and mTOR shape the T cell priming and polarizing properties of dendritic cells?
- How do dendritic cells prime Th2 responses in response to parasitic helminths?
- Can immune cell metabolism be targeted to reverse immune- and vaccine hypo-responsiveness?
Methodology and Tools
- Metabolic flux analysis
- High dimensional metabolic flow cytometry
- Untargeted metabolomics
- Next generation RNA sequencing
- In vitro culture systems of human DCs and macrophages
- Murine models of infection and cancer with conditional KO mice
Group members
- Bart Everts (group leader)
- Luis Almeida (PhD student)
- Ibrahima Diallo (PhD student)
- Julian van Duijvenvoorde (PhD student)
- Graham Heieis (Postdoctoral fellow)
- Thiago Patente (Postdoctoral fellow)
- Ing. Alwin van der Ham (Technician)
- Frank Otto (Technician)
- Anas Babetji (Technician)