The use of biomedical tools in new frontiers; Immunity and stem cell transplantation for coral
Benyamin Rosental, Ben Gurion University
Please join us for our next Monday departmental seminar on the 26th of December from 15:00 to 16:00 at the Porter Auditorium
The use of biomedical tools in new frontiers; Immunity and stem cell transplantation for coral
Benyamin Rosental, Ben Gurion University
At this presentation, I would like to tell on a personal level, how I transformed my human-orientated immunology research into comparative immunology approaches
In the first project, I will describe our cellular and functional characterization coral and anemone immune cells, focusing on the phagocytic cell population. We demonstrate that this phagocytosis is different from small molecule pinocytosis. Inhibiting actin filament rearrangement interferes with phagocytosis. We show the internalization of the engulfed particles and their fusion with lysolitic vesicles. Moreover, our data demonstrate that immune activity is upregulated in heat stress. With the increase in temperature, there was a simultaneous increase in phagocytic activity. On the other hand, there was no significant change in the pinocytosis of sugars
The second project is regarding our aim to develop stem cell transplantation for Hexacorallians. Our aim is to develop the transformation of resilience through stem cell therapy, using stem cell transplantation. We are currently working with Nematostella vectensis as a model for corals because it has transgenic N. vectensis lines that we can follow upon transplantation in live animals. Using this, we could follow in vivo mCherry-positive cells in transplanted animals for up to 2 months. Using confocal microscopy and flow cytometry, we showed the integration and proliferation of the transplanted cells into the tissue. Additionally, we showed cell integration using PCR and QPCR. Using serial transplantation, we showed the longevity of our candidate-enriched stem cells. Finally, we showed that the candidate stem cell transplantation can rescue animals from a leather chemotherapy treatment
The specific projects are funded by: ERC, NSF-BSF, Revive & Restore
BIO
Our laboratory research focuses on tissue acceptance by the immune system, and stem cell transplantation. Our research is unique since we are working with non-classical model organisms to answer basic questions in immunology, and to translate our findings into medical research
Among our projects is modulating the immune system in blood-forming stem cell transplantation (bone marrow transplantation), to make it a safer process. Additionally, we are looking for the immune system's "tipping point" between tissue regeneration or inflammatory destruction
While most of the work in the laboratory is focusing on improving transplantation and modulating the immune system in medical settings, due to the unique tools developed in the lab, we also translate our research to other fields. For instance, in a unique project, we are attempting to characterize, isolate and transplant coral stem cells. The idea is to be able to isolate stem cells from heat-resilient individuals and to transplant them to sensitive corals, to enable resilience in the sensitive individuals under heat stress
Alon Shepon
The Department of Environmental Studies
The Porter School of the Environment and Earth Science
Tel Aviv University | website
The Israeli Forum for Sustainable Nutrition
