Jianyu Yu (China)
Xue-Feng Bai, faculty mentor
CD200R, the cognate ligand for CD200, is an IgSF protein expressed on several types of immune cells in mouse and human, including macrophages, neutrophils and mast cells. While a few reports revealed that CD200R signaling plays a protective role in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), very few evident uncover the expression of CD200R in the the gastric tract or the relationship between CD200R signaling and the gut immune system, which plays a key role in IBD.
Our main goal is to study: 1) on which type of intestinal lymphocytes is CD200R expressed mainly; 2) Why CD200R expression is up regulated; 3) How CD200R signaling impact intestinal lymphocytes population and their functions. Our results suggest that CD200R is expressed variously in different types of intestinal immune cells and plays an important role in intestinal lymphocyte population and cell proliferation.