Presented by A/Prof. Edwin HawkinsResearch Group Head, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
12 June, 12-1pm, Seminar room 1, TRF
It is widely accepted that complex interactions between blood cells and their surrounding microenvironments contribute to homeostatic cell function and disease development. In light of this interdependency, novel interventions that target specific stromal cell lineages and their interactions with blood cell subsets in disease are being investigated. To investigate this, we are studying mouse and humanised models of autoimmunity, hematological malignancies and protective immunity. We have developed intravital microscopy methods that allow us to monitor the same cells and microenvironments in the bone marrow (BM) and peripheral immune organs long-term including repeated imaging sessions over multiple days. Using this approach, we have observed lineage specific interactions of haematopoetic cells with stroma and microenvironments in the BM. For example, we observed highly dynamic interactions and promiscuous distribution of T-ALL cells throughout the BM, without any preferential association with microenvironments. Unexpectedly, this environment-agnostic behaviour was maintained during development of chemotherapy resistance. Interestingly, this behavior is not a conserved feature of blood cells from other immune cell lineages.