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• infectious disease and the immune system
• neuroscience and mental health

• Medicine
• General Practice
• Paediatrics
• Pathology

• Dermatology
• Infectious diseases
• Immunology
• Neurology
• Neurophysiology

Kingston Mills is Professor of Experimental Immunology, School of Biochemistry and Immunology, Trinity College Dublin (TCD). He is Head of the Immunology, Inflammation and Infection research theme at TCD and runs a lab with around 17 scientists (10 Postdocs, 6 PhD Students and a Lab Manager).

Research Expertise
? Immunity to infection and vaccines
? Tumour immunology and immunotherapeutics for cancer
? Role of the immune responses (innate and T cell) in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases
? Immunotherapeutics for autoimmune diseases, such as psoriasis, multiple sclerosis and IBD
? Neuroinflammation in models of multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer?s disease

Hybrid ??-?? cells the interface of innate and adaptive immunity during autoimmune diseases

We have identified a novel and functionally unique subtype of T cell in mice that express ?? and ?? TCRs that are distinct from conventional CD4, CD8 or ?? T cells. These hybrid ??-?? cells are at the interface of innate and adaptive immunity, expressing high levels of IL-1 and IL-23 receptors and VLA4 and secrete IL-17 and IFN-? in response to IL-1 and IL-23, which is enhanced by co-stimulation via the ?? TCR. The hybrid ??-?? are expanded during S. aureus-induced peritonitis and we have preliminary evidence that they play a role in bacterial clearance. The hybrid ??-?? cells are also expanded in murine autoimmune diseases; they are first IL-17-seceting cells in the CNS of mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS). Depletion of the hybrid cells significantly attenuates CNS autoimmune disease in the EAE model. The aim of this project is see of similar cells exist in humans and to examine the hypothesis that hybrid ??-?? cells are expanded in humans with autoimmune diseases and if so what are their function. The project will use cellular and molecular immunology techniques and blood and tissue samples from patients with MS and psoriasis. We use antibodies specific for TCR?2, V?9 and TCR? to identify hybrid ??-?? cells in normal human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). We will use PBMC from MS and PBMC and cells form skin biopsies from psoriasis patients to establish if the hybrid cells are expanded in human autoimmune diseases. Finally we will measure IL-17 and IFN-? production and co-culture activated ??-?? cells with keratinocyte and assess IL-6 and IL-8 production to establish their possible pathogenic function in human autoimmune disease.