IMMUNOLOGY2026™ Conference Recordings For Attendees-New Models for Studying Cell:Cell Interactions

Video Transcription

Video Summary

Maria Cecilia Campos Canesso described new tools her lab developed to study cell-cell interactions in the immune system, especially in the gut. She explained why these interactions are hard to capture: they are transient, rare, tissue-specific, and context-dependent. To overcome these limits, her group created LIPSTIC, a method that labels cells only when they physically interact, first focusing on CD40/CD40L interactions between antigen-presenting cells (APCs) and T cells.<br /><br />Using this tool, her lab studied how food antigens are handled in the intestine. They showed that different APCs contribute at different times: early after food exposure, RORγt+ APCs help initiate regulatory responses, while dendritic cells, especially DC1s, help maintain tolerance later. In contrast, during worm infection, tolerogenic APCs are lost, oral tolerance breaks down, and food allergy can develop.<br /><br />She also described a more universal version of LIPSTIC, which can be used in many tissues and cell types by combining a Cre driver with a sortase-based labeling system. This version can reveal not only which cells interact, but also how much they interact. Finally, she introduced a dual-color version that can track two interaction types at once.

Meta Tag

Date April 15, 2026 3:45 PM - 4:15 PM

Room 104AB

Session AAI Program Committee Session: Back to School: A Review of Four Fast-Moving Fields, sponsored by the AAI Program Committee

Speaker Maria Cecelia Campos Canesso

Track Lymphocyte Differentiation and Peripheral Maintenance (LYM)

Year 2026

Keywords

LIPSTIC

cell-cell interactions

immune system

gut immunity

oral tolerance

antigen-presenting cells

food allergy

April 15, 2026 3:45 PM - 4:15 PM

104AB

AAI Program Committee Session: Back to School: A Review of Four Fast-Moving Fields, sponsored by the AAI Program Committee

Maria Cecelia Campos Canesso

Lymphocyte Differentiation and Peripheral Maintenance (LYM)

2026