Research Seminar Speaker Series – Shivashavankar Othy, UCI – “Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Immune Cells in the Spinal Cord During CNS Autoimmunity”

Please join us for our Research Seminar Series Speaker, Shivashankar Othy, Researcher, UCI presentation on: 

Effector T (Teff) cells potentiate CNS autoimmunity, whereas regulatory T (Treg) cells limit autoimmunity. Using a combination of multiphoton imaging and transgenic mice in an MS-like disease model called experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, we provide new insights into the cellular dynamics of Teffs, Tregs, and APCs in CNS. Despite similar cell speeds, Teff and Treg cells follow divergent motility patterns. Teff cells actively migrate to spread across the CNS. In contrast, Tregs remain organized as discrete clusters. Tregs exhibit an unusual repetitive scanning behavior, allowing rapidly motile Tregs to re-engage their targets constantly. We postulate that this motility behavior of Tregs limits Teff cell activation by destabilizing Teff cell interactions with local APCs. We demonstrate that the arrival of Tregs in the CNS coincides with diminished activation of Teff cells and a partial recovery from disease; depletion of Treg cells quadruples the number of Teff cells within days. We provide evidence that Treg cells interfere with proximal signaling in Teff cells. Altogether, we provide new insights into the spatial organization and cellular interactions of immune cells during CNS autoimmunity.

Date: Friday, February 17, 2023

Time: 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.

Location: Building 121 – Room 1111 & Via Zoom (See Outlook invite for Zoom Link)