DC 3 - Integrated 4-and 3- dimensional lipidomics and multi-omics portfolio for deep phenotyping of cellular lipidome, functional lipid pathways and tissue microenvironment in immunity

• Objectives:

1. Establish a comprehensive reference lipidome atlas of T cell subsets
2. Elucidate T cell subset specific biosynthetic and functional lipid pathways
3. Determine bioactive lipids involved in individual T cell subsets
4. evelop an integrated- cellular and/or tissue lipidomics and multi-omics protocol of general applicability

• Brief project description:

Immune cells adapt their function to diverse tissue environments and immunological challenges, a process that relies on tightly regulated lipid networks. Lipids not only constitute structural components of cellular membranes but also act as bioactive mediators that shape immune activation, signalling, and adaptation. While individual lipid pathways have been studied in specific settings, a comprehensive understanding of how lipid composition and tissue context jointly regulate immune cell function is still emerging.

This project focuses on the integrated deep phenotyping of immune cell and tissue lipidomes to establish standardized reference atlases of lipid-driven pathways in innate and adaptive immunity, providing a foundation to better understand immune regulation in health and disease.

• Planned secondment(s):

Olendraite lab (Vugene, Lithuania)
• To integrate lipidome data into multi-molecular pathways and networks and determine lipids involved in immune responses using an advanced data processing platform. Integrating the data into existing databases and pathways analysis tools.

David Finaly lab (TCD, Irland)
• Validate SCD1 as target using human T cells.