Mathematical Biology Seminar Melissa Reeves, University of Utah, Tuesday, April 1, 2025 2:00pm in LCB 215 Tumor cell heterogeneity is a driver of the spatial organization of intratumoral immune cells Abstract: Tumors exhibit spatial heterogeneity: individual regions of a tumor are frequently occupied by tumor cells that harbor unique genetic and transcriptional properties. Using a model system in which we can fluorescently track multiple tumor populations within a single tumor, we have found that local tumor cells play a major role in shaping the immune microenvironment in their spatial vicinity. In particular, tumor cells which produce high levels of CX3CL1 create spatial pockets of immunosuppression and dampened T cell activity in their vicinity, which they achieve through the recruitment of suppressive macrophages.