The nanoscale organisation of immune cell surfaces in health and disease

Super-resolution microscopes, celebrated in the 2014 Nobel Prize for Chemistry, are one of the tools that allow us to study immune cells in unprecedented detail. Recently, Professor Davis’s research team has used these microscopes to study the changing arrangements of molecules on the surface of immune cells as they survey other cells for signs of disease. They will now compare how the surface organisation of specific immune cells, called natural killer cells and macrophages, varies in health and disease, as well as in individuals with variations in immune system genes. The team will test how the structure of cell surfaces impacts the thresholds at which immune responses are turned on and off. As well as understanding how immune cells work, the aim is to uncover new ways in which medicines can nudge their activity up or down.