A team of University researchers received a two-year, $2 million research grant from the National Institutes of Health to further study the aging and functions of the thymus – an organ that produces T-cells until early adulthood.

T-cells are a type of disease-fighting white blood cells that play an important role in the immune system. The research can bring scientists steps closer to discovering better treatments for individuals with compromised immune systems.

For example, cancer patients who undergo transplants, or patients with HIV, could benefit from increased T-cell production, said Nancy Manley, professor and associate head of the genetics department.

The project will be a collaborative effort among the University, the University of Texas and the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

“This grant is a direct outgrowth of our previous work,” Manley said. “Our preliminary purpose was to identify how the thymus works and how the thymus degenerates with age.”

In previous research, Manley successfully pinpointed the FOXN1 gene, which is responsible for controlling T-cell production in the thymus in mice models. She said the upcoming project will allow her and her colleagues to research how to intervene, prevent, slow down or restart T-cell production in the organ.

“The ability to live longer is a recent advancement in human society,” she said in a telephone interview Tuesday. “Increased T-cell production could also benefit people older than 65 who have weaker immune systems.”

Manley said the involution of the thymus, or the degeneration of the organ with age, is almost a programmed loss of structure and function – like a genetic program being executed.

She said she will continue to study the FOXN1 gene, looking at how turning the gene “off” and “on” regulates the organ and T-cell production. Likewise, Clare Blackburn from the University of Edinburgh will focus on the cellular and molecular involution of the thymus. In addition, Ellen Richie of the University of Texas will focus on the mechanisms that regulate the thymus, specifically the parts that prevent autoimmunity, Manley said.

Presently, there are a handful of therapy options that can rejuvenate the thymus, but researchers do not know exactly how, she said. Therapies involving sex steroid blockading, issuing growth factors or issuing growth hormones are often accompanied by multiple negative side effects.

“There are many side effects because the therapy targets more than the organ you’re interested in [the thymus],” Manley said. “We don’t want to target every cell.”

Virginia Bain, a fifth-year doctorate student studying genetics from Baton Rouge, La., said Manley has gone above and beyond to find research funding in today’s economic climate.

Though Bain will not be involved in the upcoming project, she said Manley’s work has enabled her to work on several projects relevant to her study of the thymus. Bain’s research focuses on how genes interact during the separation and movement of the thymus from the pharynx.

“She’s a wonderful mentor who works really hard to get grants,” she said in a telephone interview Thursday. “Nancy has the perfect balance with her graduate students – she’s always showing us how much she really cares.”