Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 3, 2026

A Semi-Quantitative Drug Affinity Responsive Target Stability DARTS assay for studying Rapamycin/mTOR interaction
Published on: August 27, 2019
Multi-scale optical imaging of the delayed type hypersensitivity reaction attenuated by rapamycin
Meijie Luo1, Zhihong Zhang1, Hui Li1
11. Bitton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics-Huazhong University of Science and Technology (WNLO-HUST), Wuhan 430074, China; ; 2. MoE Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Wuhan 430074, China;
Rapamycin alters immune cell dynamics in delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) reactions. It initially enhances neutrophil recruitment but later reduces neutrophil and delays monocyte/macrophage accumulation, potentially by affecting T helper cells.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Cellular Biology
Background:
- Neutrophils and monocytes/macrophages (MMs) are key in delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH).
- In vivo dynamics of these cells and rapamycin's modulation during DTH are poorly understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate immune cell dynamics during DTH using multi-scale optical imaging.
- To determine how rapamycin affects neutrophil and MM behavior in vivo during DTH.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a footpad DTH reaction model in vivo.
- Employed multi-scale optical imaging to observe immune cell behavior from macro to cellular levels.
- Analyzed immune cell motility parameters including velocity, arrest duration, displacement, and confinement.
Main Results:
- Neutrophils and MMs accumulated at inflammatory sites at 24 hours post-challenge in classic DTH.
- Rapamycin advanced neutrophil recruitment and vascular hyperpermeability at 4 hours.
- Rapamycin reduced neutrophil accumulation by over 50% at 48 hours and delayed MM involvement.
Conclusions:
- Rapamycin treatment shortens the DTH reaction's initial phase and attenuates its intensity.
- Rapamycin's effects may involve T helper type 2 or regulatory T cells.
- Immune cell dynamics are significantly modulated by rapamycin during DTH.

