Time: 5:30pmVenue: Willoughby Lecture Theatre, Sir John Vane Building, Charterhouse Square London, E1 2AT
Effective immunity relies upon the prompt localization of activated T lymphocytes to the site of pathogen invasion. While other leukocytes migrate in response to non-specific inflammatory stimuli, activated T lymphocytes must discriminate and migrate to tissues where their cognate antigen is located.
This event is facilitated by a process called ‘T cell homing’, by which activated T lymphocytes acquire topographic memory and tend to recirculate through the original site of pathogenic insult. In addition to topographic memory, other complex mechanisms allow T cells to discriminate not only the area code for accessing different tissues, but also the specific ‘address’ of antigen location within the tissue. This talk will review our current knowledge of how activated T cells ‘find their way around the body’ and how this activity can be manipulated in therapeutic settings and will highlight Prof Marelli-Berg’s contributions to the field.