Using techniques including mouse genetics, fluorescence imaging and gene expression analysis we discovered group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) as significant new participants in immune regulation through their cytokine secretion (Figure 2). We now know that ILC2s belong to a larger family of ILCs that develop from lymphoid precursors that also give rise to the T and B cell lineages. We aim to identify the transcriptional pathways that regulate this differentiation and gain molecular insight into cell commitment.
ILC2s localise predominantly at mucosal surfaces where they act as critical sentinels for tissue damage and infection, at the interface of innate and adaptive immunity. Our goal is to determine the cellular and molecular pathways that regulate ILCs during homeostasis and disease, and how they might be targeted therapeutically in humans.
Selected Papers
- Walker JA, McKenzie ANJ. (2018)
TH 2 cell development and function.
Nat Rev Immunol. 18(2): 121-133. - Saluzzo S, Gorki AD, Rana BMJ, Martins R, Scanlon S, Starkl P, Lakovits K, Hladik A, Korosec A, Sharif O, Warszawska JM, Jolin H, Mesteri I, McKenzie ANJ, Knapp S. (2017)
First-Breath-Induced Type 2 Pathways Shape the Lung Immune Environment
Cell Rep. 18(8): 1893-1905. - Damgaard RB, Walker JA, Marco-Casanova P, Morgan NV, Titheradge HL, Elliott PR, McHale D, Maher ER, McKenzie ANJ, Komander D. (2016)
The Deubiquitinase OTULIN Is an Essential Negative Regulator of Inflammation and Autoimmunity
Cell 166(5): 1215-1230. - Halim, T.Y.F., Hwang, Y.Y., Scanlon, S.T., Zaghouani, H., Garbi, N., Fallon, P.G. and McKenzie, A.N.J (2016)
Group 2 innate lymphoid cells license dendritic cells to potentiate memory T helper 2 cell responses
Nat Immunol. 17(1): 57-64. - Eberl, G., Colonna, M., Di Santo, J. and McKenzie, A.N.J. (2015)
Innate Lymphoid Cells: a new paradigm in immunology.
Science 348(6237): aaa6566. - Walker, J.A., Oliphant, C.J., Englezakis, A., Yu, Y., Clare, S., Rodewald, H-R., Belz, G., Liu, P., Fallon, P.G. and McKenzie, A.N.J. (2015)
Bcl11b is essential for type-2 innate lymphoid cell development.
J. Exp. Med. 12(6): 875-882. - Oliphant, C.J., Hwang, Y.Y., Walker, J.A., Salimi, M., Wong, S.H., Brewer, J.M., Englezakis, A., Barlow, J.L., Hams, E., Scanlon, S.T., Ogg, G.S., Fallon, P.G. and McKenzie, A.N.J. (2014)
MHCII-mediated dialogue between ILC2 and CD4+ T cells Potentiates Type-2 Immunity and Promotes Parasitic Helminth Expulsion.
Immunity 41(2): 283-295
Group Members
- Jillian Barlow
- Madhavi Berks
- Paula Clark
- Ana Carolina Ferreira
- Mayuri Gogoi
- Morgan Heycock
- Helen Jolin
- Eric Jou
- Batika Rana
- Aydan Szeto
- Jennifer Walker