Min Woo Kim

Program: Immunology

Current advisor: Jonathan Kipnis, PhD

Undergraduate university: University of California – Los Angeles

Research summary
The focus of my project is to better understand central nervous system (CNS) autoantigens and their function in CNS immunosurveillance. Utilizing myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)35-55 peptide immunization in C57BL/6 mice as my model for active experimental autoimmune encephalitis (EAE), I observed that immunizing myelin basic protein (MBP) together with MOG35-55 peptide in C57BL/6 mice could mildly suppress the EAE phenotype. Further analyses by flow cytometry unveiled marked increase in regulatory T cells in the CNS-draining lymph nodes in mice co-immunized with MOG and MBP when compared to MOG immunization alone. The role MBP presentation plays in modulating T cell response towards that of suppression remains a fascinating question.

Graduate publications