06 de Junho, 13h30 | Amph. C (CP)

Oestrogen, an evolutionary conserved regulator of T cell differentiation and immune tolerance in jawed vertebrates?

Matthieu Paiola

(Normandy University, FR CNRS 3730 SCALE, UMR-I 02 INERIS-URCA-ULH Environmental Stress and Aquatic Biomonitoring (SEBIO), Université Le Havre Normandie, F-76600 Le Havre, France)

Abstract

From teleost to mammals T lymphocytes represent major immune cells which have the particularity to develop in the thymus. In mammals, oestrogens drastically regulate thymus function, however the effects remained poorly known in lower vertebrate such as teleost fish.
We investigated the effects of 17β-oestradiol on T cell differentiation in Europeans sea bass by gene expression analysis in three major lymphoid organs: the thymus, the head-kidney and the spleen. In parallel, the oxidative burst capacity was assessed in leucocytes.
Sex-related oestrogen-responsiveness in leucocyte markers was observed, the expression of which was differentially induced by oestrogen-exposure in the three lymphoid organs. Remarkably, in the spleen, the oestrogen increased regulatory T cell-related gene expression was associated with a decrease of oxidative burst capacity. To the best of our knowledge, this study indicates for the first time that physiological levels of oestrogen promotes T cell mediated immune tolerance in teleosts, similar to the situation observed in mammals after oestrogen-treatment or pregnancy.

Short CV

I did my bachelor on Animal physiology at the University of Caen (France), and my MSc degree in Integrative Biology and Physiology at the University of Pierre and Marie Curie in Paris and the Pontifical Catholic University of Santiago (Chile). After that, I conducted a PhD in immunology of European sea bass at the Sebio (Environmental stress and biomonitoring of aquatic environment) laboratory of the University of Le Havre Normandy (France), under the supervision of Dr. Thomas Knigge and Dr. Tiphaine Monsinjon. I am currently conducting a postdoctoral fellowship under the same supervisors. My research focuses on the endocrine control as well as the impact of xenoestrogen such as ethinyloestradiol and estradiol on the thymic function and T cell differentiation in European sea bass. One of the aims is to unravel the link between seasonal thymic atrophy, endocrine system, energy trade-off with the reproductive system and peripheral immune strategy which remained unknown in fish and not fully understood in mammals. Moreover, I am currently enrolled in the Assemble plus project in CCMAR together with Catarina Moreira and with the supervision of Patrícia Pinto (CEIB Group). During my PhD, I published two articles as first author, I participated in oral communications in two international congresses in France and Spain. During my BSc and MSc, I have also conducted internships in laboratories in France, Chile and England.

Poster