The Immune System is a powerful defense network of cells and molecular mediators that is present within the blood and also integrated within every tissue and organ of our body. However the immune system can have a dark side.

The Marshall lab focuses on a type of immune cell called B lymphocytes, which are unique in their ability to produce powerful immune defence proteins called antibodies.

Signals from cell surface receptors determine whether B cells divide to produce more copies of themselves or differentiate to become either immune activators (amplifying the immune response), immune regulators (to dampen down the immune response) or antibody-secreting factories. This critical cellular “decision-making” occurs through a process known as Signal Transduction.