Role of dendritic cells in the adaptive immune response of cattle - Jayne Hope

The work of the Hope lab focuses on the role of dendritic cells, their interactions with pathogens, and with other innate cell populations such as natural killer cells, to understand how these interactions may influence the adaptive immune response.

Much of this work has centred on strategically important Mycobacterial diseases of ruminants: bovine tuberculosis and Johne’s disease (paratuberculosis), with the aim to describe the nature of protective immunity and how this may be induced by vaccines. Underpinning these efforts is the development of immunological tools and methods required to define the mechanisms of immune induction and correlates of vaccine-induced protection.

The group has used a surgical cannulation model to examine the nature of dendritic cells trafficking from the skin in afferent lymphatic vessels. These dendritic cells are major targets for vaccines and understanding how they may interact with vaccines, or as targets for adjuvants underpins studies to define how protective immunity is initiated.

In 2016, we were funded through BBSRC’s Vaccinology highlight call to examine the transcriptome of dendritic cells draining in the afferent lymph following vaccination with protective, or non-protective vaccines. This will allow us to define the mechanisms which enable dendritic cells to induce protective immunity, and to pinpoint targets for adjuvant development or vaccine design in the future.