Elizabeth Mann

Postdoc Researcher in Gut T Cell Regulation

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths world-wide, for which a variety of genetic and environmental risk factors are known to exist. One molecule that is known to promote CRC in mouse models of disease is the Th17-family cytokine IL-22. In human CRC, levels of IL-22 are similarly elevated but it's function in disease progression remains poorly understood.

My research aims to uncover what drives the enhanced production of IL-22 in human CRC tumours alongside how IL-22 modulates the development and trafficking of different immune cells into the tumour.

Insights from these studies will hopefully inform the development of novel diagnostic assays and therapeutics for CRC, particularly focussing on subsets of patients that have poor prognosis.

Key publications

Vitamin D Counteracts an IL-23–Dependent IL-17A + IFN- γ + Response Driven by Urban Particulate Matter
Journal article

Mann EH. et al, (2017), American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology, 57, 355 - 366
1 α ,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 acts via transforming growth factor- β to up-regulate expression of immunosuppressive CD73 on human CD4 + Foxp3 - T cells
Journal article

Mann EH. et al, (2015), Immunology, 146, 423 - 431
Immunoregulatory mechanisms of vitamin D relevant to respiratory health and asthma
Journal article

Mann EH. et al, (2014), Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1317, 57 - 69
Phosphoinositide 3-kinase inhibition restores neutrophil accuracy in the elderly: toward targeted treatments for immunosenescence
Journal article

Sapey E. et al, (2014), Blood, 123, 239 - 248
1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 in combination with transforming growth factor-β increases the frequency of Foxp3⁺ regulatory T cells through preferential expansion and usage of interleukin-2.
Journal article

Chambers ES. et al, (2014), Immunology, 143, 52 - 60