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A newly discovered memory in our bones: Blood stem cells boost immunity by keeping a record of previous infections [innovations-report.com]:

“The first exposure to LPS causes marks to be deposited on the DNA of the stem cells, right around genes that are important for an immune response. Much like bookmarks, the marks on the DNA ensure that these genes are easily found, accessible and activated for a rapid response if a second infection by a similar agent was to come.”

The authors further explored how the memory was inscribed on the DNA, and found C/EBP to be the major actor, describing a new function for this factor, which is also important for emergency immune responses. Together, these findings should lead to improvements in tuning the immune system or better vaccination strategies.

“The ability of the immune system to keep track of previous infections and respond more efficiently the second time they are encountered is the founding principle of vaccines. Now that we understand how blood stem cells book mark immune response circuits, we should be able to optimize immunization strategies to broaden the protection to infectious agents. It could also more generally lead to new ways to boost the immune response when it underperforms or turn it off when it overreacts”, concluded Prof. Michael Sieweke.

The research group of Prof. Michael Sieweke works at the interface of immunology and stem cell research. The scientists focus on the study of hematopoietic stem cells and macrophages, long-lived mature cells of the immune system that fulfil an important role in tissue regeneration. In 2018, Prof. Michael Sieweke received the most valuable research award in Germany: the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship, which brings top international researchers to German universities.

In addition to his position as Research Director at the Centre for Immunology at the University of Marseille Luminy, he now acts as Deputy Director at the Center for Regenerative Therapies at TU Dresden (CRTD). CRTD is academic home for scientists from more than 30 nations. Their mission is to discover the principles of cell and tissue regeneration and leveraging this for recognition, treatment and reversal of diseases.

The CRTD links the bench to the clinic, scientists to clinicians to pool expertise in stem cells, developmental biology, gene-editing and regeneration towards innovative therapies for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, hematological diseases such as leukaemia, metabolic diseases such as diabetes, retina and bone diseases.

This study was funded by TU Dresden / CRTD through the German Excellence Initiative, the German Research Foundation as well as through an ERC Advanced Grant from the European Research Council and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The study was further supported by funding from the Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Aix-Marseille University, the Agence Nationale de la Recherche, the Foundation ARC pour la Recherche sur le Cancer, an INSERM-Helmholtz cooperation programme and the Einstein Foundation.

Wissenschaftliche Ansprechpartner:

Prof. Michael Sieweke
Tel.: +49 351 458 82200
Email: michael.sieweke@tu-dresden.de
Webpage: http://www.tu-dresden.de/crtd [tu-dresden.de]

Originalpublikation:

Cell Stem Cell: “C/EBPb dependent Epigenetic Immune Memory in Hematopoietic Stem Cells”, authors: Bérengère de Laval, Julien Maurizio, Prashanth K. Kandalla, Gabriel Brisou, Louise Simonnet, Caroline Huber, Gregory Gimenez, Orit Matcovitch-Natan, Susanne Reinhardt, Eyal David, Alexander Mildner, Achim Leutz, Bertrand Nadel, Christophe Bordi, Ido Amit, Sandrine Sarrazin and Michael H. Sieweke

Kim-Astrid Magister | Technische Universität Dresden

Further reports about: CRTD [innovations-report.com] DNA [innovations-report.com] blood stem cells [innovations-report.com] immune response [innovations-report.com] immune system [innovations-report.com] immunity [innovations-report.com] infections [innovations-report.com] stem cells [innovations-report.com]

Original Submission