Dr Linda Wooldridge - Research Interests

My Research focus: Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes (CTLs)

T cell action

CTLs are an essential part of the immune system. CTLs are responsible for protecting us against viral infection and eradicating tumour transformed cells. CTLs activate in response to small peptide fragments derived from foreign proteins that are presented at the cell surface in association with major histocompatibility complex (MHCI) molecules.

On recognition of foreign pMHCI, CTLs become activated and rapidly kill the target cell therefore protecting us from both viral infection and cancer. CTLs express a T cell receptor (TCR) and the CD8 at their cell surface which are both involved in the recognition of foreign pMHCI at the target cell surface (Figure 1).

The TCR confers the antigen specificity of CTL recognition whereas CD8 acts to enhance CTL sensitivity to antigen by up to 1 million fold. In fact, CD8 is required for optimal activation by most CTL.

In previous years, my research has focused on investigating the role of the CD8 coreceptor in CTL activation and how a better understanding of this may allow beneficial manipulation of the immune response. More recently I have become interested in T cell crossreactivity and the role that CD8 plays in controlling this important phenomenon. I believe that being able to understand the phenomenon of T cell crossreactivity will unlock the mechanisms that underlie some of the most common T cell-mediated diseases.