NCOR1-mediated control of intestinal CD4+ T cell immunity

T cells (also known as T lymphocytes) belong to the group of white blood cells and have important functions in the immune system. They are divided into two main types, the CD4+ T helper (Th) cells and the CD8+ cytotoxic T cells. T helper cells play a central role in the coordination of the immune response. They are sub- divided into further subgroups essential for the fine-tuning of the immune response in order to combat pathogens. However, the formation of Th cell subsets must be properly regulated, since dysregulation of Th cell differentiation can lead to immunological diseases such as autoimmunity or allergies. How are the various Th cells generated during an immune response upon pathogen exposure? Which factors and regulatory networks play a role in these processes? How are the Th subset maintained? How does the immune system prevent incorrect differentiation pathways and which processes go wrong when this happens? And how is T cell function influenced by the tissue (e.g. intestine and lung)? Some of the many important questions of basic immunological research and which fascinate many scientists, since it is also about elucidating fundamental immuno(bio) logical processes. With the support of several FWF projects our group has been able in the last couple of years to make important contributions to answering some of these questions. In one research direction of our laboratory we are interested in investigating the protein NCOR1, which mediates the interaction of transcription factors that control the writing of DNA into RNA with chromatin regulatory protein that control the packaging of DNA. In previous studies we have shown that NCOR1 regulates the survival of developing CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. We also showed that NCOR1 plays an important role in regulation gene expression (i.e. the writing of DNA intro RNA) patterns in various Th subsets and thereby that NCOR1 controls CD4+ T cell function. In recent studies, we have obtained preliminary evidence that NCOR1 is also important for a functional intestinal immune system, in particular intestinal CD4+ T cells. With the support of the FWF project, we now want to investigate how NCOR1 regulates Th cells in the gut at the molecular and cellular level. We expect that our studies will provide a better understanding of the regulation of Th cells and that they will also reveal medically interesting insights into the immune system.