Innate lymphoid cell development and modulation of cholangiocytes in biliary atresia (B04)

• Subject Area: Immunology ; Gastroenterology
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 530990199

In some children the complex demands on the immune system are not met early in life, resulting in severe inflammation and sclerosis of the biliary tract and liver, a disease called biliary atresia (BA). Our preliminary analyses of innate lymphoid cells (ILC) suggest that ILCs are enriched in paediatric livers and display an increased IL-17-production in BA. We hypothesise that ILC development is dysregulated in BA and contributes to cholangiocyte pathology in young children. Building on our expertise in organ-specific human immune development we will investigate ILC development in the liver after birth and how ILC-dysregulation impacts cholangiocytes in the development and progression of BA.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1700: Immune regulation in the liver: from homeostasis to disease
• Applicant Institution: Universität Hamburg
• Project Head: Professorin Madeleine Bunders, Ph.D.