Immunity, mobility, and aging

Initiated by Jean-François Moreau, this project is based on the idea that mobility is central to immunity. In the transition from unicellularity to multicellularity, all cells have mostly lost their mobility – except for the immune cells. We are interested in better characterizing this link between immunity and mobility, and the way it emerged through evolution. On this ground, we propose a novel hypothesis about aging and immunosenescence, based on the idea that the increasing stiffness and cross-linking of the senescent ECM lead to progressive immunodeficiency via an age-related decrease in T cell mobility and the death of these cells.
People involved in Bordeaux: Jean-François Moreau, Leonardo Bich, Thomas Pradeu.
PI: Jean-François Moreau
Partners: Daniel Choquet, Claudio Franceschi.

Immunity and the constant construction and maintenance of biological boundaries

Recent data show that the immune system is not just a system of elimination and defence, but is involved, much more broadly, in development, regulation, and repair. One key problem is to determine how the immune system constantly patrols and repairs biological boundaries, such as the epithelium and the endothelium. We are particularly interested in how innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) and gammadelta T cells are involved in this process. We are developing, with Patrick Blanco’s group, a translational program exploring the role of ILC2s in controlling and maintaining the endothelium, both in physiological and pathological conditions, including in fibrosis and systemic sclerosis.
People involved in Bordeaux: Patrick Blanco, Cécile Contin-Bordes, Julie Déchanet-Merville, Paôline Laurent (PhD student), Valérie Jolivel (postdoc), Pauline Manicki, Jean-François Moreau, Thomas Pradeu, Marie-Elise Truchetet.
PI: Thomas Pradeu
This project is funded by the IDEX programme of the University of Bordeaux and Thomas Pradeu’s group at ImmunoConcept.

Understanding immunogenicity

Understanding the triggering of an immune response

The aim of this interdisciplinary project is to offer, through the articulation of conceptual, experimental, and medical perspectives, a better characterization of how the immune system is activated. What triggers an effector or a regulatory immune response? How can concepts, theories, and models help us understand how the immune system is activated? One aspect of this investigation is the assessment of the “discontinuity theory” Pradeu, Jaeger and Vivier 2013; Pradeu and Vivier 2016), which states that effector immune responses are triggered by sudden changes in the molecular patterns with which immune receptors interact.

People involved in Bordeaux: Julie Déchanet-Merville, Hannah Kaminsky, Maria Mamani, Jean-François Moreau, Thomas Pradeu, Marie-Elise Truchetet.
PI: Thomas Pradeu
Partners: Gérard Eberl (Institut Pasteur), Eric Vivier (CIML).
More information about this project here.

Is defining life pointless?

New paper in Synthese
Is defining life pointless? Operational definitions at the frontiers of biology

by Leonardo Bich & Sara Green.
Abstract

Despite numerous and increasing attempts to define what life is,there is no consensus on necessary and sufficient conditions for life. Accordingly, some schol- ars have questioned the value of definitions of life and encouraged scientists and philosophers alike to discard the project. As an alternative to this pessimistic conclu- sion, we argue that critically rethinking the nature and uses of definitions can provide new insights into the epistemic roles of definitions of life for different research prac- tices. This paper examines the possible contributions of definitions of life in scientific domains where such definitions are used most (e.g., Synthetic Biology, Origins of Life, Alife, and Astrobiology). Rather than as classificatory tools for demarcation of nat- ural kinds, we highlight the pragmatic utility of what we call operational definitions that serve as theoretical and epistemic tools in scientific practice. In particular, we examine contexts where definitions integrate criteria for life into theoretical models that involve or enable observable operations. We show how these definitions of life play important roles in influencing research agendas and evaluating results, and we argue that to discard the project of defining life is neither sufficiently motivated, nor possible without dismissing important theoretical and practical research.

Keywords:
Definitions of life · Integration · Origins of life · Artificial life · Synthetic biology · Astrobiology · Philosophy of science in practice
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11229-017-1397-9
First Online: 18 April 2017
 

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