Julia Castro, Ph.D.

Research

My research will focus on investigating the mechanisms by which vaccines can stimulate the generation of durable humoral responses, primarily maintained by long-lived plasma cells (LLPCs). In the initial phases of a B cell response, many plasma cells are generated but only a handful can survive in the bone marrow or spleen for years or even decades. Importantly, the factors and molecular mechanisms or cell interactions that support the maintenance and survival of these long-lived antibody factories are poorly known. Given the apparent contribution of cells composing a niche that seems essential for LLPC maintenance, my projects seek to characterize these niches in different tissues. By combining cutting-edge methods in molecular immunology and genetics, single-cell sequencing, and computational analysis with a system that tags cells that come in close contact, I will identify the cells with which plasma cells interact, analyze the factors that mediate these interactions, and assess their importance to plasma cell longevity. Understanding these basic biological principles could contribute to rational vaccine design against pathogens of human relevance, such as HIV and Plasmodium.