Analyzing How Inflammation Affects the Aging Brain

As organisms age, immune cells often begin to infiltrate tissues that they would not otherwise. This causes declines in both immune cell diversity and function, which help explain why older individuals are more susceptible to infection. This team will look at how aging immune cells enter the brain when barriers that normally exclude them break down. They will use single-cell tools to clarify the identity of infiltrating immune cells and their interactions with inflammatory bacteria and viruses in elderly individuals.