Michelle Linterman

Michelle Linterman (born 1983) is a New Zealand immunologist. She is a group leader at the Babraham Institute in the United Kingdom, where she researches the biology of the germinal center response after immunisation and infection.

Early life and education Linterman was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, the daughter of Louisa and Robert Linterman, and grew up in Waikanae.

Linterman went to Canberra and completed a summer studentship with Carola Vinuesa at the Australian National University (ANU). Linterman ended up staying at ANU for a year to work on human genetics, before deciding to complete a doctorate. She started working with genetically modified mice to better understand disease. Vinuesa had just discovered RC3H1 using these mice, and Linterman decided to study why these mice had systemic lupus–like disease. At the time, follicular B helper T cells (Tfh) started attracting considerable research interest. Tfh are critical for germinal centre formation, and mice in Linterman's lab (with the Roquinsan/san sanroque mutation) spontaneously formed Tfh cells that contributed to the systemic lupus erythematosus that plagued these mice. She discovered that a proportion of these Tfh cells expressed FOXP3, a transcription factor involved in immune system responses.

Linterman moved to the University of Cambridge as a postdoctoral researcher, where she studied the fundamental biology of Tfh cells. Still fascinated by the mechanisms that underpin FOXP3 regulation, Linterman started exploring Tfh cells in vivo.

Research and career Linterman formed a research group at the Babraham Institute, where she studies germinal centre biology and how the immune system responds to vaccination. Germinal centres are sites within biological tissue (e.g. in the spleen, tonsils and lymph nodes) where B cells reproduce, replicate and differentiate as the immune system responds to infection. The germinal centre teaches the immune system how to respond more rapidly and effectively to future pathogens, and is critical for effective response to vaccination. The magnitude of the germinal centre response diminishes with age, largely due to the role of T cells. Linterman investigates the role of the germinal centre in ageing, and how they form non-lymphoid tissues. She found that a cascade of events creates germinal centres that help to create cross-reactive antibodies. She discovered that the body remodels lung tissue to contribute to the immune system response and produce more antibodies.

Selected publications