Annika Paluda
Pronouns: she/her
Research Mentor(s): Mohammad Farazuddin
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Michigan Nanotechnology Institute for Biology and Medical Sciences / Medicine
Program: UROP
Session: Session 2 (10:00am – 10:50am)
Authors: Annika Paluda, James Baker Jr, Mohammad Farazuddin
Abstract
Retinoic acid (RA), a vitamin A derivative, plays an important role in regulating mucosal immunity by controlling functions of different immune cells. These immune cells are responsible for inducing T cell responses against different pathogens and provide protection. Several different types of immune cells convert vitamin A into RA, the most prominent contributor being dendritic cells (DCs). So, we aimed to study the impact of RA signaling in DCs on the magnitude and strength of their immune response to different pathogens. DCs counteract pathogens and produce different cytokines to communicate with T cells to mount pathogen-specific immune responses. We cultured DCs from the bone marrow of wild-type (WT) and retinoic acid receptor a (RAR-a) knockout (KO) mice. Different synthetic analogues of bacterial and viral products were used to mimic pathogens, including poly-inosinic-poly-cytidylic acid (pIC). pIC is a double stranded RNA that simulates viral infections and activates immune cells by interacting with toll-like receptor-3 (TLR-3). DCs from both WT and KO mice were stimulated with pIC and increasing concentration of RA to study their cytokines profile. Following incubation, total RNA was extracted, and cDNA synthesis was performed. The genes studied were IFNa, IFNß, IL6, TNFa, and actin (housekeeping gene). Since different cytokines produced by the DCs coordinate different immune responses, studying cytokines expression with increasing concentration of RA will help us understand the behavior of DCs under different pathogenicity on mucosal surfaces.
