Biology of Lipid Antigen Presentation

The immune system operates like elite troops in a special military force. Upon invasion from unwanted intruders, immune cells mount a coordinated response to eliminate the threat, usually directed by “presentation” of proteins called antigens. However, these antigens are not always proteins, but can be lipids! The molecules that “present” the majority of lipid antigens to specialized immune cells in humans do not exist in mice, an immunologist favorite animal model. In the Nicholas lab, we leverage human samples and transgenic mice expressing human lipid presentation molecules to further the world’s knowledge of lipid antigen presentation. Our ambition is to understand how lipid antigen presentation contributes to disease, specifically type 2 diabetes.