Shandre Pillay - IUIS Beijing ICI 2019 Presentation

Shandre Pillay was one of eighteen members of the Division of Immunology who attended the 17th International Congress of Immunology held in Beijing in October. Shandre was one of the members who successfully presented her research; her presentation was entitled "The effect of long non-coding RNA-125 on mouse and human macrophage polarization during Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection".

Shandre Pillay - The effect of long non-coding RNA-125 on mouse and human macrophage polarization during Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection

Tuberculosis is one of the leading fatal infectious diseases world-wide and also accounting for significant morbidity especially in developing countries. The bacteria responsible for this disease, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), can subvert the host defence by skewing macrophage activation towards a less microbicidal alternative activated state to avoid classical effector killing functions. Amongst those host factors, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as important regulators of immune cells activation and response to pathogens. In collaboration the RIKEN Omics Science Center, Japan, we performed CAGE genome-wide transcriptome analysis of IFN-ϒ and IL-4/13 stimulated macrophages. We have identified 151 differentially expressed long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) that might play functional roles in macrophage polarization. In particular, lncRNA-125 was significantly downregulated during Mtb infection. This project aims at functionally validating lncRNA-125 in polarized and/or Mtb-infected murine and human macrophages using chemically engineered antisense oligonucleotides, hence identifying lncRNAs, particularly lncRNA-125, as new host factors to be further investigated for TB diagnostics and therapies.