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SUMMARY:Maintenance of T helper cell memory - Prof. Dr. Andreas Radbruch\,
  DRFZ\, Berlin\, Germany
DTSTART:20100324T181500Z
DTEND:20100324T191500Z
UID:TALK21908@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Prof. Jim Kaufman
DESCRIPTION:A biologist by education\, Andreas Radbruch has focussed his s
 cientific work since 1976 on the immune system\, and the way it provides i
 mmunity or participates in immunopathology. In particular\, his work aims 
 at a molecular understanding of the quantitative and qualitative control o
 f immune reactions and the immunological memory. Andreas Radbruch was firs
 t to show that switch recombination had occurred physiologically in switch
 ed memory B lymphocytes and antibody secreting plasma cells. He could para
 digmatically show for the murine IgG1 gene that a region that is addressed
  by signals from the interleukin-4 receptor and promotes transcription of 
 the corresponding gene segments\, is essential for switch recombination\, 
 and links it to RNA processing.\n\nInitially with the aim to understand cl
 ass which regulation\, the group of A. Radbruch has focussed then on the q
 uestion of how expression of those cytokines is controlled in T lymphocyte
 s\, in particular the cytokine Interleukin-4\, a central regulator of humo
 ral immunity and allergy. In recent and ongoing work\, his group analyses 
 the molecular basis of this "cytokine memory"\, changes in transcription f
 actor setup and epigenetic modification of the cytokine genes in effector 
 and memory T lymphocytes. This work has a major impact on recent concepts 
 on immunological memory and chronic immunopathology. At that time\, the gr
 oup of Andreas Radbruch has also developed high-gradient magnetic cell sor
 ting (MACS).\n\nMore recently\, the group of Andreas Radbruch has addresse
 d the biology of plasma cells which confer the humoral immunological memor
 y\, i.e. the protection provided by serum antibodies specific for antigens
  encountered in the past. The new concept of long-lived (memory plasma cel
 ls as the basis of humoral immunity has drastic consequences for the devel
 opment of vaccination strategies and for the understanding and treatment o
 f antibody-mediated immunopathology in allergy and autoimmunity. And it ap
 pears that those principles of organisation of plasma cell memory also app
 ly to the organisation of T helper cell memory.\nThe molecular analysis of
  immunological memory in immunity and immunopathology of the Radbruch grou
 p now aims at defining\, from a basic understanding of their biology\, str
 ategies for the selective depletion of the "pathogenic" memory driving chr
 onic inflammatory diseases.\n
LOCATION:Lecture Theatre\, Department of Pathology\, Tennis Court Road
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