Dr William McEwan

Antibodies have the ability to recognise and bind an almost limitless diversity of molecular conformations, permitting the specific identification of pathogens. The intracellular environment is usually free of antibody, but we have recently demonstrated that pathogens can bring antibodies into the cell during infection. Intracellular antibody is recognised by a high affinity Fc receptor, TRIM21 which promotes the rapid neutralisation of viruses and initiates inflammatory signalling pathways. This system is highly efficient and explains the long-standing observation that a single antibody is able to neutralise a virus particle, which is approximately 1,000 times its molecular mass . In this way, the intracellular environment is protected by the huge diversity of antibodies using a single receptor. Our research aims to understand the role of intracellular antibody detection in the natural immune response and devise novel strategies to enhance immunity.