Visualization of Protective and Destructive T-Cells in Color-Coded Mice

Researchers at the Transplant Institute at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston have created a novel way to study T-cells in special “color-coded” mice. A lot of research on transplantation medicine is carried out in lab animals and mice in particular. T-cells play an important role in both protection and rejection of transplanted organs and tissues but they can be hard to distinguish in vivo. The researchers have developed a mouse model in which different kinds of T cells express different colored fluorescent green proteins. Regulatory T cells are colored green and destructive effector T cells are colored red. Yellow colored cells appear when red T cells are induced to express the green cell phenotype. Another new technique coupling in vivo flow cytometry with endoscopic confocal microscopy is then used to visualize the cells. By using these techniques, the researchers are able to follow the immune response in live animals while it is taking place. The findings are published in the June issue of Nature Medicine.
Press release: Color-Coded Mice Offer Key Insights Into Transplant Responses…
Article abstract: In vivo tracking of ‘color-coded’ effector, natural and induced regulatory T cells in the allograft response…