B cell activation in human GALT: drivers and consequences

We have shown for the first time that the gut is involved in maturation of an arm of the human immune response that is critical for good health. Importantly, this gut-associated stage of immune maturation is missing in the life-threatening disease lupus nephritis. We want to determine what drives this arm of the immune response to mature in the gut and how this fails in lupus nephritis. We want to understand exactly what happens in the gut that supports this aspect of immune development. We wish to know if cells that mature in the gut and leave, undergo further modifications in response to local cues at destination. This work uses cutting-edge methods that have just become available to interrogate a relatively neglected study area that our work has opened up. Outcomes will have profound implications for basic human immune physiology and disease: lupus nephritis, and much more.