The Johns Hopkins University researcher bucked the prevailing idea that the body would not launch an immune response against its own tissues, and in doing so established an entirely new scientific discipline.

Jaclyn Winter and Shiladitya DasSarma will discuss how they harness the unique biology of extremophiles for the discovery and development of new therapeutics.

The Oxford researcher’s work on lipid and peptide antigens revealed key mechanisms in inflammation, immunotherapy, and vaccination, which are being pursued in clinical trial treatments.

A rogue hybrid lymphocyte, bearing characteristics of both B and T cells, may play a role in driving autoimmunity in the disease, although the mechanism is far from clear.

Researchers found that allegedly noncoding genetic material carries the instructions for many peptides that may help harness the immune system to fight cancer.

A team has engineered two stem cell lines into “synthetic T cells” that destroy breast cancer cells in vitro. 

At low doses, resveratrol enhanced human T-cell activity in vitro, while at high doses it interfered with cell signaling. 

Mice receiving the treatment produced their own monoclonal antibodies and survived infection with the life-threatening pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

The fluid motions of a T cell’s microvilli, scanning their environment for antigens, are captured in 3-D and in real time.