Dr. Yasmin Köller
Post Doctoral Fellow
since Feburary 2012 PhD student with Andrew Macpherson and Kathy McCoy
2011 Diploma thesis at the Cancer Research UK in London in the laboratory of Professor Adrian Hayday ‘Crosstalk between intraepithelial lymphocytes and neighbouring epithelial cells in response to microbial stimulation through pattern-recognition receptors’.
2006 -2011 Studies in Molecular Medicine at the University of Freiburg, Germany
It has been known for a long time now that microbes shape our immune system. Occurring firstly following sterile birth colonization is thought to imprint a baseline immune regulation to the hosts’ innate and adaptive immune system. But now there is a growing appreciation that our microbiome continuously communicates with the immune system throughout our entire life.
The overall aim of my PhD project is to investigate how exposure to the intestinal commensal microbiota educates and regulates the developing immune system. Specifically, we are aiming to elucidate the mechanisms that, in the absence of microbial signals, lead to immune dysregulation.
Current work of my project investigates alterations in the chemokine and cytokine environment in the absence of microbial stimulation making use of germ-free mice and mice that are colonised with a restricted Altered-Schädler-Flora (ASF) consisting of 8 defined microbial species. Specifically, I will assess the chemokine and cytokine profile of different arms of the innate immune system, e.g. intestinal epithelial cells, dendritic cells and macrophages. Moreover I will analyse the phenotype of CD4+ T cells of gut-associated lymphoid tissues and how different hygiene status impacts on this composition. As we believe that a critical time for microbial stimulation of the immune system occurs shortly after birth we will focus our work on the “window of opportunity” for microbes to set a baseline immune regulation.
