19th Annual Student Research Conference
Science
Proliferative Differences in CD4 Memory T cell Subsets
Christine M. Janson
Dr. William Lee (Wadsworth Center) and Dr. Laura Fielden, Faculty Mentors
T cells play an important role in the immune response. They are involved in recognizing and eliminating foreign antigens, including pathogens. This study focuses on the T cell response to Staphylococcal Enterotoxin B (SEB), which is a superantigen that activates large families of T cells by binding to certain Vβ chains that comprise the T cell receptor. Naïve T cells demonstrate a normal, proliferative response to SEB, while memory T cells do not respond. Immunofluorescence staining and flow cytometry of lymphocytes isolated from spleen, lymph nodes, and lung tissue of DO11.10 transgenic mice was used to determine the location of subpopulations of memory T cells. Our results indicated that effector memory T cells populated the peripheral organs, while central memory T cells stayed in the lymph nodes. Lastly, we used flow cytometry with CFSE fluorescent staining to track the proliferation of these two memory T cells in response to SEB.
Keywords: T cell, flow cytometry, immune response
Topic(s):Biology
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 27-2
Location: VH 1408
Time: 10:00