Memofish - Deciphering the heterogeneity of B lymphocytes during generation of humoral memory in a teleost fish
Contact: Dr. rer. nat. Alexander Rebl
Duration: 2024-2027
Funding: German Research Foundation (DFG)
Abstract:
Only limited data are available on immune subpopulations in fish, their differentiation stages, trafficking events/migration routes and their definite functions, since the deeper understanding of the teleostean immune system has been notoriously complicated by the lack of immunological tools. This project will record the transcriptional landscape of immune-cell subsets in infected carp using single-cell RNA-sequencing technology. Our aim is the identification of the functional molecular immune-cell signatures in a qualitative and quantitative fashion to decipher the teleostean principle of immune polarization (which is underexplored in fish to date). The established model of Sphaerospora molnari, the myxozoan parasite of common cap, will be used to investigate the Th2 polarization profile, while the infection with VHSV/Koi herpes virus will be used as a model for Th1 polarization of the immune responses. The overall aim is establishing an immune atlas of the main lymphocyte populations in fish, their surface markers, developmental dynamics and their cytokine profiles.