Reprogramming Immune Responses Through Targeted Antigen Presentation to Reverse Immune Tolerance Loss
Dr. Kedmi’s approach builds on a key biological insight: certain antigen-presenting cells (APCs), particularly RORγt⁺ APCs, act as instructors that initiate regulatory T cell (pTreg) responses. These regulatory T cells are the immune system’s “peacekeepers” who actively suppress inappropriate inflammation and promote tolerance to harmless antigens like food or gut microbes.
Dr. Kedmi’s research aims to retrain the immune system to restore healthy tolerance by identifying and reprogramming the cells that instruct immune responses. By targeting these cells with precision RNA-based tools, her lab seeks to treat autoimmune diseases, allergies, and chronic inflammation at their root – without suppressing immunity.
The immune system must strike a delicate balance: it needs to fight infections while peacefully coexisting with food and beneficial microbes. In autoimmune diseases, allergies, and chronic inflammation, this balance breaks down, and the immune system mistakenly attacks the body or harmless substances. Dr. Kedmi’s lab studies how immune tolerance is initiated, focusing on a newly identified group of immune cells that act as key instructors for regulatory T cells – the body’s natural peacekeepers. By combining immunology, bioengineering, and advanced live-cell and single-cell technologies, her team is uncovering how these cellular conversations work in living systems. Using this knowledge, the lab is developing targeted mRNA delivery strategies to retrain immune responses with precision. This approach offers a new path toward therapies that restore immune balance without broadly weakening the immune system.
