Investigating the roles of Effector T cells and Interferon Gamma in the pathogenesis of Alopecia Areata

The Jabbari lab studies alopecia areata (AA), an autoimmune disease of the hair follicle characterized by follicular infiltration of immune cells, comprised predominantly of CD4 and CD8 T cells. AA is estimated to affect up to 6 million people in the United States at some point during their lifetime and commonly affects patients younger than 20 years old, which can have a damaging impact on their self-esteem. The aim of the lab is to identify effector cell populations and cytokine pathways that are involved in the pathogenesis of disease utilizing the C3H/HeJ mouse model and human skin samples.
Recent work in the field has primarily focused on the contribution of CD8 T cells and has highlighted NKG2D+ CD8 T cells as pathogenic effector cells in the attack of the hair follicle. However, the involvement of CD4 T cells in the pathogenesis of disease is still not fully known. Preliminary data from the lab, as well as work from other groups, has indicated that CD4 T cells are able to induce disease when isolated from AA mice and transferred into recipient mice. Additionally, it has been well-established that IFNg is a pivotal cytokine in AA, and our lab has found that the skin draining lymph nodes of AA mice have a higher number of IFNg+CD4+ T cells, suggesting a role of CD4 derived IFNg in the pathogenesis of disease.

My project in the lab is to identify the roles that CD4 T cells and CD4 derived IFNg play on the loss of hair follicle tolerance and the development of disease.

Publications

Connell, S.J., Jabbari, A. The current state of knowledge of the immune ecosystem in alopecia areata. Autoimmun Rev. (2022) 21(5):103061. doi:10.1016/j.autrev.2022.103061 PMID: 35151885 PMCID: PMC9018517

Messingham, K.N., Miller, A.D., Narayanan, N.S., Connell, S.J., Fairley, J.A. Demographics and Autoantibody Profiles of Pemphigoid Patients with Underlying Neurologic Disease. J. Invest. Dermatol. (2019) 139(9): 1860-1866.e1861. doi:10.1016/j.jid.2019.01.034 PMID: 30876802 PMCID: PMC6910721
 

Honors and Awards

University of Iowa Graduate Student Senate Travel Award (2024)
National Alopecia Areata Foundation Travel Award (2024)
AAI Trainee Abstract Award, IMMUNOLOGY2023 (2023)
Immunology T32 Pre-Doctoral Training Grant (2021-2023)