Abstract:

Tissue repair and regeneration require a temporally coordinated immune response to clear affected areas and rebuild tissue architecture. To study the dynamic regulation of muscle repair, we generated a time-resolved single-cell RNA sequencing dataset of regulatory T cells (Tregs) and mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) in a mouse model of skeletal muscle injury. We built a computational tool to predict the dynamic cellular communication networks between these cell types and found distinct communication pathways during different phases of repair. Using a combination of in vivo CRISPR and genetic mouse models, we validated these interactions and identified novel communication pathways that regulate tissue regeneration.



Short Bio:

Dr. Andrés Muñoz-Rojas is originally from Mexico City. He has a degree in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania. Andrés got his PhD in Biomedical Engineering at Yale University, where he worked with Dr. Kathryn Miller-Jensen using single-cell secretion and transcription technologies to study macrophage polarization in vitro and in tumor microenvironments. He then joined the lab of Diane Mathis at Harvard Medical School as a Postdoctoral Fellow to study tissue immunology and explore the role of Tregs in regulating tissue function.