Signalling in T-cell immunity.

T cells rely on a complex network of molecular signals to decide whether to attack a threat or stand down, and this project will map four specific signalling pathways that control those decisions. The problem is that when T-cell signalling goes wrong, the immune system can either fail to fight infections or turn against the body's own tissues. Current treatments for immune deficiencies, autoimmune diseases, and graft-versus-host responses after transplants are often blunt instruments. This research aims to provide the molecular-level understanding needed to design more precise therapies. One aim tackles how HIV-1 hijacks T-cell machinery to replicate, potentially revealing new drug targets. Another investigates how chemokines can reverse the "anergy" state that keeps T cells from attacking tumours. This is fundamental science. The work will not produce a new drug or diagnostic test tomorrow. But understanding the wiring diagram of T-cell activation has historically led to breakthroughs such as checkpoint inhibitor cancer therapies. Deeper knowledge of these signalling steps could eventually allow clinicians to dial immune responses up or down with far greater accuracy than is possible today.