Associated Project (Felix Meissner) - Dissecting CD4+ T helper cell heterogeneity and phenotype with quantitative proteomics
CD4+ T helper (Th) cells orchestrate protective immunity by producing paracrine signals that regulate B and T cells. Due to technical limitations in studying intercellular crosstalk comprehensively, however, it remains largely unexplored, how diverse Th cell-derived paracrine signals are and which functions arise from differential sets of released proteins with known and not yet described functions. This project aims at establishing a system-level view of Th cell heterogeneity based on quantitative proteomics of secreted proteins and will generate new hypotheses about how paracrine signals define Th cell phenotype and function.
