Listening in on Multicellular Communication in Human Tissue Immunology

Julian J Albers; Karin Pelka

doi:10.3389/fimmu.2022.884185

Listening in on Multicellular Communication in Human Tissue Immunology

Front Immunol. 2022 May 13:13:884185. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.884185. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Julian J Albers^{1

2}, Karin Pelka^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, United States.
² Department of Medicine III, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
³ Gladstone-University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Institute of Genomic Immunology, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA, United States.

Abstract

Immune responses in human tissues rely on the concerted action of different cell types. Inter-cellular communication shapes both the function of the multicellular interaction networks and the fate of the individual cells that comprise them. With the advent of new methods to profile and experimentally perturb primary human tissues, we are now in a position to systematically identify and mechanistically dissect these cell-cell interactions and their modulators. Here, we introduce the concept of multicellular hubs, functional modules of immune responses in tissues. We outline a roadmap to discover multicellular hubs in human tissues and discuss how emerging technologies may further accelerate progress in this field.

Keywords: cell-cell communication; human immunology; multicellularinteraction networks; single cell; systems immunology; tissue biology.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Cell Communication*
Communication*
Humans