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	2002 Fellow			J. Rodrigo Mora, M.D., Ph.D. Lab. of: Ulrich H. von Andrian, Ph.D. Center for Blood Research Harvard University 200 Longwood Avenue Boston, MA 02115 Tel: (617) 278-3130 Fax: (617) 278-3190 Email: rodrigo.mora@bionova.cl Website: click here

Country: CHILE

Field: Immunology

Research Interest: When naive T cells are activated they differentiate into memory and effector cells that migrate preferentially to those tissues where they have first encountered their antigen, a property that has been called tissue-specific homing. Thus, orally administered antigens induce effector/ memory T cells, which express high levels of gut homing receptors, the integrin a4ß7, and the chemokine receptor CCR9. However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms that determine this kind of tissue-specific imprinting on T cells are completely unknown. We have recently demonstrated that Peyer s patch dendritic cells (intestine mucosa), but not spleen or lymph node dendritic cells (non-mucosal tissues), are able to induce high levels of the intestinal homing receptors a4ß7, CCR9, and consequently gut-homing potential on T cells, thereby identifying for the first time a tissue-specific element able to confer homing specificity to effector/ memory T cells. Currently, we are working to identify the molecular mechanisms by which Peyer s patch dendritic cells imprint this gut-homing potential on naive T Cells. The identification of the cellular and molecular mechanims involved in the acquisition of tissue-specific migration potential by T cells remains a fundamental problem in immunology, and its answer will eventually allow us to manipulate in a very specific way an immune response, i.e. by targeting effector/ memory T cells where they are required, as well as possibly preventing them for migrating to sites where they can be dangerous.