Carla Nowosad, Ph.D.
Department of Pathology, Langone Grossman School of Medicine, New York University, New York, NY, USA
Finalist Essay: Who goes there? How B cells assess risk in the intestine.
Abstract:
B cells essentially contribute to intestinal immunity through the production of large quantities of antibodies. Most intestinal antibodies are produced via germinal centers (GCs), which, despite being chronically present in healthy gut-associated lymphoid tissue, are poorly understood in terms of their ontogeny and antigenic drivers.
Using multicolor fate-mapping with the Confetti fluorescent allele to visualize GC clonal expansions, single-color GCs were observed in the steady-state intestine, suggesting strong antigen-driven selection events. By coupling fate-mapping, model microbiomes, and Ig sequencing, we showed that gut-GCs selected clones with increasing affinity to members of the microbiome.
Mapping how antibody responses are generated in the absence of infection has major implications for understanding proper control of the microbiome, known to be an important determinant of many disease outcomes.
About Carla Nowosad
Carla Nowosad received undergraduate degrees from the University of Warwick and a Ph.D. from the Francis Crick Institute, National Institute for Medical Research Mill Hill.
After completing her postdoctoral fellowship at Rockefeller University, she started her laboratory in the department of Pathology and the Translational Immunology Center at New York University Grossman School of Medicine in late 2021.
Her research focuses on how B cells make decisions in the complex microenvironment of the intestine.