IMMUNOLOGY AND INFLAMMATORY DISEASES
Mempel Laboratory: Thorsten R. Mempel, MD, PhD
Contact Information
Mempel Lab
Charlestown Navy Yard Building 149
Mailstop CNY 149-8, 149 13th Street
Charlestown,
MA
02129
Phone: 617-724-4596
Fax: 617-726-5651
Email: tmempel@mgh.harvard.edu
Explore This Lab
Overview
T lymphocytes are part of the adaptive immune system. They are powerful players in the defense against infection and can be effective against tumors, but they are also involved in autoimmune responses, leading to diseases such as diabetes, arthritis or multiple sclerosis.
T cell responses arise from clonal expansion of a small number of naïve precursors through antigenic priming by dendritic cells in secondary lymphoid organs, such as lymph nodes and the spleen. Once these naïve T cells have differentiated to effector T cells, they migrate to the blood, from where they are recruited to peripheral tissues to combat disease.
To prevent attacks on healthy tissues, the execution of T cell effector functions is tightly linked to the recognition of cognate antigen. In addition, immune responses are regulated through diverse inhibitory and stimulatory signals that T cells encounter in peripheral tissues.
The Mempel's Laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital is seeking to understand how the function of T cells is regulated through their interaction with other cells, structural tissue components and soluble mediators that they encounter in tissues. Their main approach to this end is direct dynamic in vivo visualization of immune processes at cellular and subcellular resolution in living mice, using multiphoton intravital microscopy.
Research Projects
- Mechanisms of Cytotoxic T Cell-mediated Tumor Rejection
- Local Regulation of T Effector Cell Function by T Regulatory Cells
- Interplay of T Regulatory Cells and Tumor-associated Myeloid Cells
- Early Events of Viral Spread in a Humanized Mouse Model of HIV Infection
Collaborative projects:
- Role of IP-10 Chemokine in T Cell Migration (with Luster Lab)
- Function of Microglia in Alzheimer’s Disease (with El Khoury Lab)
- Self-renewal of Cancer Stem Cells (with Langenau Lab)
Lab Members
Principal Investigator
Thorsten R. Mempel, MD, PhD |
Research Fellows:
Lukas Altenburger, PhD
Taylor Chrisikos, PhD
Mohsen Maleh Mir, PhD
Kazuhiro Taguchi, MD, PhD
Research Assistant:
Yifang (Ivana) Shui
Technician:
Ross Warner
Students:
Zihan (Vicky) Jiao
Jiarui Li
Publications
Click here to view a list of publications from this investigator.
Learn More
Learn more about our work with the Center for Systems Biology