Mempel Laboratory: Thorsten R. Mempel, MD, PhD

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
Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Robert and Laura Reynolds Mass General Research Scholar
Associate Member, Mass General Center for Systems Biology
Associate Investigator, Mass General Center for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Junior Faculty:
Francesco Marangoni, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellows:
Mauro Di Pilato, PhD
Jasper Pruessman, MD
Shariq Usmani, PhD

Graduate Student:
Vini Mani

Technician:
Ross Warner

Publications

Click here to view a list of publications from this investigator.