Research Focus
The Barrier Immunity Laboratory studies how epithelial cells maintain immune homeostasis and barrier integrity at mucosal surfaces, with a focus on the lung and gut. The lab investigates how epithelial cells support and orchestrate immune responses by forming a physical and biochemical barrier, sensing pathogens and communicating with innate and adaptive immune cells.
A particular interest is the role of epithelial antigen presentation via MHC class II in modulating local CD4 T cell responses, an area that remains poorly understood in humans. Using human tissue-derived organoid models and integrative single-cell and spatial transcriptomic approaches, the lab bridges in vitro and in situ systems to uncover the cellular and molecular pathways underpinning barrier-immune interactions.
By understanding how these tightly regulated processes are disrupted in inflammation, infection, and chronic diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, the lab aims to identify new mechanisms and therapeutic targets to restore barrier integrity and immune homeostasis.
Research Projects
Current Research Projects
Dissecting intestinal epithelial and immune interactions in inflammatory bowel disease
Characterising the airway Gland Associated Immune Niche in chronic lung disease
Publications
1. Oliver AJ, Huang N, Bartolome-Casado R, Li R, Koplev S, Nilsen HR, Moy M, Cakir B, Polanski K, Gudiño V, Melón-Ardanaz E, Sumanaweera D, Dimitrov D, Milchsack LM, FitzPatrick MEB, Provine NM, Boccacino JM, Dann E, Predeus AV, To K, Prete M, Chapman JA, Masi AC, Stephenson E, Engelbert J, Lobentanzer S, Perera S, Richardson L, Kapuge R, Wilbrey-Clark A, Semprich CI, Ellams S, Tudor C, Joseph P, Garrido-Trigo A, Corraliza AM, Oliver TRW, Hook CE, James KR, Mahbubani KT, Saeb-Parsy K, Zilbauer M, Saez-Rodriguez J, Høivik ML, Bækkevold ES, Stewart CJ, Berrington JE, Meyer KB, Klenerman P, Salas A, Haniffa M, Jahnsen FL, Elmentaite R, Teichmann SA. Single-cell integration reveals metaplasia in inflammatory gut diseases. Nature 2024;635:699–707 doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07571-1
2. Madissoon E*, Oliver AJ*, Kleshchevnikov V, Wilbrey-Clark A, Polanski K, Richoz N, Ribeiro Orsi A, Mamanova L, Bolt L, Elmentaite R, Pett JP, Huang N, Xu C, He P, Dabrowska M, Pritchard S, Tuck L, Prigmore E, Perera S, Knights A, Oszlanczi A, Hunter A, Vieira SF, Patel M, Lindeboom RGH, Campos LS, Matsuo K, Nakayama T, Yoshida M, Worlock KB, Nikolić MZ, Georgakopoulos N, Mahbubani KT, Saeb-Parsy K, Bayraktar OA, Clatworthy MR, Stegle O, Kumasaka N, Teichmann SA, Meyer KB. A spatially resolved atlas of the human lung characterizes a gland-associated immune niche. Nat Genet 2023;55:66–77. *authors contributed equally doi: 10.1038/s41588-022-01243-4
3. Dann E, Cujba A-M, Oliver AJ, Meyer KB, Teichmann SA, Marioni JC. Precise identification of cell states altered in disease using healthy single-cell references. Nat Genet 2023;55:1998–2008 doi: 10.1038/s41588-023-01523-7