Our lab works at the intersection of immunology, stem cell biology and regeneration, and the grants funding this work (GM123267 and GM 123255) which we are requesting to merge in the MIRA program have provided numerous insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying both self/non-self recognition, as well as a genetically determined cell competition event that occurs between mobile germline stem cells for niche occupancy. In addition, we have recently found that these same germline stem cells, which are lineage restricted under normal conditions, are responsible for a regenerative response to injury called Whole Body Regeneration, during which entire bodies, including all cardiovascular, GI, central and peripheral nervous, endocrine and germline tissues are regenerated de novo from isolated vascular fragments, and we propose to extend our research efforts into this robust model system of chordate regeneration. As described in the proposal, in the last 18 months, these studies have led to a number of exciting findings we will follow-up on during the upcoming funding period, including: dissecting the molecular basis for allorecognition specificity and its conservation with vertebrate immunity; a novel mechanism of autocrine stimulation that is required for homing of germline stem cells and likely plays a role in the competitive phenotype; and rescue and lineage tracing assays for whole body regeneration that have revealed that a single germline stem cell can give rise to an entire body- a result which may have major implications for understanding germ cell tumors, and also provides a unique opportunity for rapidly creating genetically modified lines of Botryllus. Our long-term goals are to utilize the unique biological properties of Botryllus to carry out innovative molecular mechanistic studies, and a MIRA award would allow us to redirect our efforts from funding to carrying out more and better innovative research on these biomedically important topics.
We are studying an organism in which a natural transplantation reaction mediates the transmission of stem cells between two individuals, which then compete to contribute to regeneration. Our studies will continue to provide novel insights into the mechanisms which underlie these diverse processes, and have major significance, from preventing a rejection reaction after transplantation, to understanding how cancer cells outcompete normal cells for resources and growth. In the organism we study, the interaction between transplantation and stem cells in many ways resembles how humans accept or reject bone marrow transplants, but in a simplified fashion that provides opportunities for novel approaches to study these questions that cannot be done in other species.
