Immune System Development
Human Immune System Development Map (HIDmap)
Development status: Active development
Sustainable support: Alt. method dev. for environmental tox. testing, MINERVA Platform
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License
Construction tool: CellDesigner
Funding: Clariant Produkte (Deutschland) GmbH and IUF - Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine
Contact: Christiane Spruck, IUF – Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine, christiane.spruck(at)iuf-duesseldorf.de
Description
The development of the human immune system is biologically complex, as different niches and cell types are involved in the various stages of development. To date, knowledge about the development of the immune system relies primarily on animal data, and the availability of in vitro and in silico new approach methodologies (NAMs) to assess effects on the developing immune system without the use of animals is highly desirable. In order to capture the biological complexity of the developing immune system and guide the development of in vitro and in silico NAMs, we started building a map on the human immune system development. A physiological map is a tool derived from the Disease Maps project that focuses on the underlying undisturbed physiological processes. Based on extensive literature curation, the human immune system development map (HIDmap) graphically represents the specific cell type niches and complex biological interactions involved during prenatal development, including cell migration, cell-cell interactions, and signaling molecules. The major niches involved in the immune system development are the aorta-gonad-mesonephros region, yolk sac, fetal liver, bone marrow, spleen, and thymus. Cell types that play a role in the development of the immune system include, but are not limited to, hematopoietic stem cells, progenitor cells, T-cells, B-cells, dendritic cells, macrophages, and monocytes. The main goal of the HIDmap is to map as comprehensively as possible, the developing human immune system to identify existing knowledge gaps and provide a valuable resource for both research and regulatory purposes in pharmacology and toxicology. In this context, the HIDmap is envisaged to provide a basis for the development of adverse outcome pathways (AOPs), computational models, and human-based in vitro NAMs for toxicological testing, therefore presenting the biological basis for a NAM-based test battery for developmental immunotoxicity (DIT).
Development Team
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Christiane Spruck, M.Sc IUF – Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine Biologist, PhD Student Development of the HIDmap |
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Luiz Ladeira, PhD GIGA Molecular & Computational Biology, University of Liège, Belgium Postdoctoral researcher Curation of the HIDmap |
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Eliška Kuchovská, PhD IUF – Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine Postdoctoral researcher Review and editing |
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Lena Teschke, B.Sc IUF – Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine Biologist, master student Development of the HIDmap |
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Liesbet Geris, PhD GIGA Molecular & Computational Biology, University of Liège, Belgium Professor in Biomechanics and Computational Tissue Engineering Supervision |
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Bernard Staumont, PhD GIGA Molecular & Computational Biology, University of Liège, Belgium Postdoc Researcher & Project Manager Supervision, review and editing |
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Marek Ostaszewski, PhD University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine Researcher MINERVA Platform support |
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Susann Fayyaz, PhD Clariant Produkte (Deutschland) GmbH Expert Toxicology Project administration and funding body |
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Fabian Grimm, PhD Clariant Produkte (Deutschland) GmbH Head of Toxicology and Ecotoxicology Project administration and funding body |
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Katharina Koch, PhD IUF – Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine DNTOX GmbH, Duesseldorf, Germany Scientist and interim working group leader Supervision, project administration and funding acquisition |
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Ellen Fritsche, MD Swiss Centre for Applied Human Toxicology (SCAHT), Basel, Switzerland Director IUF – Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine Former working group leader Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany DNTOX GmbH, Duesseldorf, Germany Professor for Environmental Toxicology Project generation, funding acquisition, administration and supervision |
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Julia Tigges, PhD IUF – Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine Scientist Supervision, project administration and funding acquisition |
Funding
This PhD project is funded by the company Clariant Produkte (Deutschland) GmbH and the IUF - Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine.