Na Xiong, Ph.D.

My research primarily concerns development and function of tissue-resident lymphocytes in the skin and roles of these resident lymphocytes in local immune homeostatic regulation and inflammation. Particularly, research projects suitable for the graduate thesis include cellular and molecular mechanisms regulating expression of skin and mucosal tissue-homing chemokine receptor CCR10 and related molecules on innate and adaptive lymphocytes, and roles of the chemokine receptors in regulating migration and function of lymphocytes under homeostatic conditions and in inflammatory diseases. We are also interested in how skin-resident lymphocytes are established throughout the early postnatal stages and their roles in tissue homeostatic regulation.