How babies learn to tolerate gut bacteria
Acceptance of non-self: Decoding intestinal immune tolerance during early life
The team looks at how special immune cells in babies help the body accept helpful gut bacteria so people may face less risk of inflammation or autoimmune problems later.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Sloan-Kettering Inst Can Research NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New York, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11135519 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
In early life the intestine is colonized by bacteria that teach the immune system what to tolerate, and failure to do so raises later risk of immune disease. Researchers will focus on a newly discovered group of antigen-presenting cells called Thetis cells that appear around weaning and may guide development of regulatory T cells. Using genetic models, lineage tracing, and advanced chromatin and cell sequencing methods, they will turn specific genes on or off and track how Thetis cells form and function. The goal is to define how these cells promote healthy immune tolerance during infancy.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Future human-facing parts would be most relevant to newborns or infants (and their families) willing to provide stool, blood, or clinical information, and to adults who can donate samples for comparison.
Not a fit: People seeking an immediate therapy or those with conditions unrelated to gut immune tolerance are unlikely to gain direct benefit from this laboratory-focused research now.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could reveal new targets or strategies to help infants build healthy gut immune tolerance and potentially prevent autoimmune or inflammatory diseases later in life.
How similar studies have performed: Prior work has shown regulatory T cells and the Aire gene matter for immune tolerance, but the specific Thetis cell lineage and their early-life role are a novel finding being explored here.
Where this research is happening
New York, United States
- Sloan-Kettering Inst Can Research — New York, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Brown, Chrysothemis — Sloan-Kettering Inst Can Research
- Study coordinator: Brown, Chrysothemis
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.