Marilia Cascalho's laboratory studies the means by which a B cell memory response is generated from naive B cells and the requirements for the maintenance of memory responses. We study the contributions of immunoglobulin, somatic hypermutation, thymus and T cells for the generation of long lived B cells.

Another goal of the laboratory is the study of mechanisms by which B cells and/or immunoglobulin contribute to the development and regulation of T cell responses to microbes and in transplantation. To elucidate the elements of B cell memory and the mechanisms of B cell dependent T cell development, the laboratory generated novel experimental gene-targeted and conditional mouse models.

Another goal of the laboratory is the study of molecular mechanisms of somatic hypermutation of immunoglobulin genes and whether these mechanisms contribute to pathogen diversity and/or tumorigenesis.

Related Websites

• Transplantation Biology Program