AIBN Seminar: Dr Mireille Lahoud, Senior Research Officer, Division of Immunology, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research

Event Details

Date:

Thursday, 25 August 2011

Time:

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Room:

Lecture Theatre T105

UQ Location:

Hawken Engineering Building (St Lucia)

Event category(s):

Full Description:: Abstract:
Dendritic cells (DC) use a variety of cell surface receptors to monitor the environment for potential dangers, including cells that have died of non-homeostatic causes (eg. infected cells), to induce appropriate immune responses. We recently identified Clec9A, a novel DC-specific Damage-Associated Molecular Pattern receptor that is conserved in mice and humans. Clec9A is specifically expressed by DC subsets that specialise in the uptake and presentation of antigen (Ag) from necrotic and apoptotic cells, and that are highly efficient at cross-presentation, that is the presentation of exogenous Ag in the MHC class I pathway. Clec9A binds dead cells, and plays an important role in presenting dead cell-derived Ag. Furthermore, Clec9A is an extremely promising candidate for immune modulation, as targeting Ag to DC via Clec9A markedly enhances both humoral and cellular immunity.

We have solved the crystal structure of the C-type lectin domain of human Clec9A to 1.8 Å. We have also determined two classes of Clec9A binding proteins, a cytoskeletal protein that reflects the binding of Clec9A to dead cells, and an independent protein which may be involved in downstream processing of Clec9A. Our research is currently focussed on characterising the molecular interactions that underpin Clec9A function, the role of these interactions in mediating immune responses, and the potential of targeting Clec9A for immune therapy.