Ragon Institute

Lab Overview

The Lingwood lab studies vaccine ‘resistant’ pathogens such as influenza virus and HIV, which often trigger non-protective antibody responses. The goals of our laboratory are to define the molecular decision-making rules that the immune system uses to establish antibody targets and to apply vaccines that rework these rules to refocus antibody attention upon the conserved ‘Achilles heels’ of these viruses.

The Lingwood Lab’s research centers on defining how fundamental principles of B cell antigen recognition control epitope-targeting by the antibodies elicited by vaccines. We have described how gene-encoded antigen ‘pattern’ recognition motifs exist within the human antibody repertoire through this work. Our research centers on defining how fundamental principles of B cell antigen recognition control epitope-targeting by the antibodies elicited by vaccines. We have defined how gene-encoded antigen ‘pattern’ recognition motifs exist within the human antibody repertoire and can, within purpose-built humanized mouse systems, serve as natural substrates for refocusing humoral immunity upon ‘universal’ vaccine targets on influenza virus, HIV, and gram-negative bacteria. We have also recently described a biological buffer system which sets the circulating level of interleukin-6 (IL-6) to regulate the output of these antibody responses and more broadly, innate immune reactions. Using a series of genetic models to manipulate the buffer-system in vivo, we now demonstrate that coordinated shifts in the buffer equilibrium regulate pro-inflammatory IL-6 signaling to enable novel anti-viral immunity at the respiratory surface.