Adovi Akue

E-mail: akue0001@umn.edu

Thesis advisor: Steve Jameson

Year entered: 2006

Degrees received:
B.S., Microbiology, University of Minnesota, 2004

Thesis research:

Homeostatic proliferation (HP), the generation of memory phenotype cells during lymphopenia, has been studied in the lymphopenic environment of sub-lethally irradiated and gene knockout mice. Although these conditions mimic chemo- and radiotherapy-induced lymphopenia, they do not replicate natural lymphopenic episodes that arise at birth and during infections. Reports from several groups have provided evidence that the environment of newborn mice is lymphopenic enough to allow HP of CD8 T cells. Therefore our goal is to study HP of CD8 T cells in the naturally lymphopenic environment of new born mice, and to determine whether the memory phenotype CD8 T cells that are generated in these conditions are functional, and play a role in the immune response of newborn mice.