"La Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale" reinforces its financial support to the ITI team

"La Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale" (FRM) has attributed a new research grant of three years to the ITI-team for its work on the epigenetic control of gene-expression in the immune-system. We will study the global influence of transposable elements (TE) on the genetic networks that control conventional and regulatory T-lymphocyte identity

ITI publishes a paper in "Frontiers in Immunology"

Data from the literature suggested that the development of regulatory T lymphocytes ("Treg") in the thymus is regulated by the interleukins 2 and 15 ("IL-2" and "IL-15"). However, in most publications no distinction was made between the Treg in the thymus that had just developed and those that had recirculated from the periphery (e.g. blood, lymphoid organs) back to the thymus. In this paper we studied the involvement of IL-2 and IL-15 in intrathymic Treg development using mice in which we can distinguish these two populations. Our data demonstrate that in absence of IL-2 substantially less Treg develop and that IL-15 has a more modest role. We also demonstrate that the Treg developing in IL-2- vs. IL-15-dependent manners are dissimilar (e.g. phenotype, function, antigen-specificity) and have somewhat different functions in vivo. Our study thus substantially contributes to the understanding of the role of these interleukins in Treg development.

The ITI team publishes a paper in the journal Diabetes

Regulatory T cells inhibit immune-responses and thus avoid auto-immune disease. Their activity is induced in part by activation of their T cell-receptor for antigen (TCR), which are expressed in a clonal manner, every Treg expressing its own TCR and thus having its own specificity. We hypothesised that the "repertoire" of TCRs expressed by Treg may be more restricted in type I diabetes-prone NOD mice than in mouse-strains resistant to autoimmune-disease.  Thus, suppression of unwanted auto-immune-responses may be less efficient in these animals. However, our high throughput sequencing of TCRs expressed by Treg newly developed in the NOD mice and in control B6 mice demonstrated that their TCR-repertoires are similarly diverse. 

Véronique Adoue is awarded the "Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches"

On March 2nd 2021, Véronique presented, via videoconference, her professional career and research-projects in the context of her candidature for the "Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches", a French diploma and academic recognition. She brilliantly obtained her diploma. The whole team warmly congratulates her with this achievement!

The ITI team publishes a paper in the European Journal of Immunology

Regulatory T cells inhibit immune-responses and thus avoid auto-immune disease. It was therefore rather unexpected to find that in a mouse-line that spontaneously develops auto-immune type I ("juvenile") diabetes an unusually large number of these cells develops in the thymus of very young animals. In this paper we show that, rapidly after leaving the thymus, these cells go back there and strongly inhibit the development of new regulatory T cells

The French National Agency for Research (ANR)
​finances a project of the TMIT team

The ANR has attributed a four-year grant (2020-2024, ImmuneTrans) to the TMIT team to study how genomic sequences derived from transposable elements contribute to cis-regulation of dendritic cell- and T cell-specific transcriptional programs

The TMIT team publishes a paper in Immunity

Dr. Olivier Joffre and his colleagues publish a paper in
"Immunity" on the control of T-lymphocyte differentiation by epigenetic mechanisms.

The members of the TMIT team mourn the tragic death of their much respected and beloved colleague Dr. Paola Romagnoli 

In August 2018, Dr. Paola Romagnoli died in a tragic incident in the Raganello canyon in southern Italy. She will be dearly missed by all of her colleagues. May she rest in peace...

Labretreat of the TMIT team in the "Gîte de Ségur"

In spring of 2018, the TMIT team organised its labretreat at the charming Gîte de Ségur in Marzens where an equilibrated combination of scientific discussions, culinary adventures, and  relaxing had an excellent effect on the life and creativity of the team

The French National Agency for Research (ANR)
​finances a project of the TMIT team

The ANR has attributed a four-year grant (2017-2020) to the TMIT team to study the mechanisms  and consequences of recirculation of peripheral regulatory T cells back to the thymus

"La Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale" continues its
​financial support to the TMIT team

"La Fondation pour la Recherche" Médicale has awarded a three-year grant to the TMIT team to study recirculation of peripheral regulatory T cells back to the thymus. We will study the causes and consequences of this intriguing newly discovered phenomenon

Dr Olivier Joffre publishes a paper in the journal Nature Immunology

Dr. Olivier Joffre, Associate Professor at the Toulouse University and staff-member of our team, has published work he has performed (with his colleagues) during his postdoc in Dr. Sebastien Amigorena's laboratory at the Curie-institute in Paris
​and the first years of his appointment in Toulouse

Gavin Vuddamalay demonstrates that
​CD8+CD28low Treg develop in the thymus

Immune responses are not only controlled by CD4+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Treg). We previously showed that CD8+CD28low Treg prevent inflammatory bowel disease and that their development is controlled by the transcription factor AIRE. Dr. Vuddamalay now reports that these cells differentiate in the thymus and are therefore "natural" Treg

The TMIT team publishes a paper in Nature Immunology

Dr. Paola Romagnoli and her colleagues published a paper in
Nature Immunology describing that peripheral regulatory T cells
can migrate back to the organ in which they developed, the thymus. Recirculating regulatory T cells were found to inhibit
​development of their precursors