Sharpening local immune responses: decoding immune-lymphatic endothelial interfaces

Our immune system protects the body against infections and diseases, and recent advances in immunotherapy have transformed treatment options for several cancers. However, dysregulated immune activity can drive chronic inflammation or autoimmune diseases. Inflammation also plays a central role in many common diseases — including cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative disorders, and cancer — influencing both their progression and severity. Although systemic immune regulation is increasingly well understood, it has become clear that crucial regulatory processes also occur locally within inflamed tissues, yet these mechanisms remain poorly characterized. IMMENs focuses on uncovering how lymphatic endothelial cells communicate with immune cells to modulate immune responses in both healthy and diseased states, and on developing new methods and tools to study these interactions. By identifying targetable molecular mechanisms, IMMENs aims to enable more effective precision therapies.