Dynamics and regulation of T cell exhaustion during chronic infection 
(Seminars)
12 February 2013
3pm
Venue: Room 501.505, Level 5, Building 501, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Grafton Campus
Contact info: Robyn McDonald
Contact email: r.mcdonald@auckland.ac.nz
Department of Molecular Medicine and Pathology seminar by Associate Professor John Wherry, Department of Microbiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.
The Wherry Lab focuses on host-microbial interactions with an emphasis on viral infections. A major goal of the research in Dr Wherry’s laboratory is to understand the mechanisms of T cell exhaustion during chronic infections. Previous work studying CD8 T cell responses during chronic viral infections has demonstrated that virus-specific CD8 T cells often lose effector functions and fail to acquire key memory T cell properties such as homeostatic proliferation (ie become exhausted). Using a variety of approaches including multiparameter flow cytometry, systems biology and global gene expression profiling, they are defining cellular and transcriptional pathways involved in T cell exhaustion and normal memory T cell differentiation.
