NIH-FDA Immunology Interest Group 1.25.23

Victora studies the basic biology of how antibodies are generated in response to infection and immunization. This includes the evolutionary process of affinity maturation in germinal centers, which is essential to improve antibodies ’ powerful targeting capabilities, and the dynamics with which the diversity of antibody responses are pruned and focused on subsequent exposures. To gain a deeper understanding of how high-affinity antibodies are generated and evolve during this complex process, the Victora lab is exploring three complementary perspectives: those of molecules, cells, and whole organs. On the molecular scale, research is underway to identify the key genes involved in how B cells respond to help from T cells, and how this help allows the fittest B cells to proliferate to become the dominant population in the GC in which they were selected. At the cellular level, the lab is exploring how physical interactions between cells transmit the information required for affinity maturation and other immune processes. Finally, Victora and colleagues are investigating how the diversity of antibodies made in an entire B cell response is constrained by the evolutionary culling required for selection of the best binders. By applying a broad scope in their work — from individual genes to the dynamics within the spleen and lymph nodes — the Victora lab hopes to gain insight into the critical evolutionary processes by which the immune system refines its response to an infection...
Source: Videocast - All Events - Category: General Medicine Tags: Upcoming Events Source Type: video