Alyssa Goldberg, MD

Pilot Research Award
$50,000 over one year

University of Colorado

Understanding Intrahepatic Lymphatic Expansion and Immune Regulation in Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis and Murine Models of Cholestasis Using Spatial Transcriptomics

This project will deepen our understanding of lymphatics in the livers of children with primary sclerosing cholangitis and in mouse models of cholestasis. We hypothesize that the liver microenvironment in cholestasis affects the transcriptome of lymphatic endothelial cells causing lymphatic vessel expansion and contraction, reorganization, and immune regulation resulting in significant functional consequences on liver health. This research aims to describe the molecular changes in liver lymphatic endothelial cells and regulation of those changes in primary sclerosing cholangitis; and to provide more information about murine models that most accurately replicate human disease. Our overarching goal is to demonstrate that lymphatics in primary sclerosing cholangitis are a promising novel therapeutic target.