Gabriel Victora, Ph.D.

The Victora lab will be characterizing the dynamic interaction between different immune cell types as cancers such as melanoma develop and change over time. Immune responses to cancer are kickstarted by specialized immune cells known as dendritic cells. These cells ingest tumor-derived proteins and present their digested fragments on their surface so that they can be recognized by T cells. T cells that recognize these fragments as “foreign” can then mount an immune response to the tumor. This exchange of information between dendritic cells and T cells takes place through direct cell-cell interactions that determine the magnitude and quality of the ensuing anti-tumor immune response. Our laboratory recently developed a technology we call “LIPSTIC” (Labeling Immune Partnerships by SorTagging Intercellular Contacts) that uses a chemical reaction to measure physical contacts between cells within a living mouse. Using this approach, we will determine how dendritic cell-T cell interactions evolve over time in models of cancer and immunotherapy. These studies can improve our understanding of how anti-tumor immune responses first develop, how they are averted by the tumor, and how they can be reinstated by immunotherapy.