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How our immune system teaches our cells to “behave”

Stefanie Valbon August 29, 2024

At a very early stage of a T-cell-to-be, an immature immune cell will enter the thymus and receive a variety of important information, which allows it to develop and mature in this organ. At some point during this process, our T-cell-to-be is required to pass an “exam” composed of two simple but crucial questions. The first question is, “Are you a functional T cell?” If the answer is yes, this developing T cell-to-be must answer a second question: “Are you going to kill enemies or friends?”

Pseudo-colored scanning electron micrograph of an oral squamous cancer cell (white) being attacked by two cytotoxic T cells (red), part of a natural immune response.

Hitting the brakes: how PD-1 stops T cells from fighting

Stefanie Valbon August 1, 2024

PD-1 is part of a group of proteins that helps promote balance during an immune response. Together, these are known as immune checkpoints. These “break” proteins help decrease the function of our T cell soldiers, which is good as we don’t want our great fighters killing when there is nothing to kill.

A natural way to make better antibodies

Stefanie Valbon October 25, 2023

Last week, I was scrolling through social media, and this ad came out talking about some “miracle” smoothie. This juice promised to give my immune system some superpower, allowing me to have better antibodies to fight any cold or viral infection that hit my way. Well, I have to say

T regulatory cells: the firefighters of the immune system

Stefanie Valbon October 4, 2023

It was like a quiet summer day until one of your internal fighters decided to attack and kill some of your healthy cells. But it doesn’t stop there. The death of these cells starts a “fire”. That is when the T regulatory cells come into action!

I’m not lazy, it’s called selective participation – Explaining T cell anergy

Stefanie Valbon February 17, 2023

Our internal mechanism of defence (known as the immune system) is made of many different cell types that together help protect us against infections and cancer. Today we are talking (again) about my favourite cell type, called T cell. To do their job, they need to receive specific signals allowing them to

How viral mutation can impact the immune system (feat. Dr. Pardy)

Stefanie Valbon April 30, 2022

I’m delighted to continue the interview series with trainees in immunology around the world. In this post, I’m featuring Dr. Ryan Pardy, an outstanding postdoctoral fellow from Dr. Christopher Hunter’s laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania. I’m fortunate that Ryan accepted my invitation, as he is not only one of

Do T cells ever get “tired”? An introduction to T cell exhaustion

Stefanie Valbon March 31, 2022

Two weeks ago I did a road trip with my (now) fiancé and our beautiful dog. We visited cities in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. We had an amazing time, but as soon as we got home there were a million chores to do (unpacking, laundry, groceries,

“I have a message for you”: an introduction on mRNA vaccines

Stefanie Valbon February 20, 2022

I’m almost 100% sure that you have received a message today. Maybe an email, an SMS or a text on any of your social media accounts. We are all being bombarded with messages every single day, telling us to do this, and that. The funny thing is… it is not

Glioblastoma: a deadly game of hide and seek

Stefanie Valbon January 8, 2022

It is the start of a new year. New goals, new planner, new routines. We know exactly what we have to do, when we have to do it, and we are ready to start strong! It is like a new cycle. Although nothing has truly changed from December 31st at

The thymus: from earth to space

Stefanie Valbon November 17, 2020

Guess what, today I’m going to talk about the coolest organ of them all, one that does not get as much attention as it deserves (some bias was added to this sentence). This organ ensures the development of our immune cells which are specialized in fighting infection and cancer. Yes,

Our Internal “Immune GPS”

Stefanie Valbon October 30, 2020

Do you remember the last time you had to go to a new place but didn’t know the way? You probably had no issue finding the path to reach your expected destination. Today, our phones will act as GPS and provide us with precise directions to go from point A

Wash your hands and save lives: Lessons from Ignaz Semmelweis

Stefanie Valbon September 15, 2020

I bet you can remember a few times when you were young and someone told you: “go wash your hands before you eat”. I also bet you can remember the last time someone (or something) informed you to wash your hands before you enter the grocery store of after leaving

Could you please be tolerant? How the immune system prevents autoimmune diseases

Stefanie Valbon September 9, 2020

If you are a little bit like me, you have also spent a lot of time trying to figure out how exactly our body is able to function the way it does. Picture this. The immune system is your internal defence mechanism, in order to provide you with the correct

The first immune steps following viral exposure

Stefanie Valbon July 22, 2020

Let’s say you were walking on the street and as your colleague crossed you she said “Good Morning!”… Sorry to break the news, but it might not be such a good morning for you. That is because, unfortunately, your colleague was infected. Yes, she was carrying a virus and as

Believe those who believe in you: an interview with Dr. Lisa Osborne

Stefanie Valbon July 14, 2020

It is my pleasure to introduce you to Dr. Lisa Osborne. I was very fortunate to meet Dr. Osborne last year at the Canadian Society for Immunology Meeting. I can’t emphasize enough how great our meeting was. I was especially amazed by Dr. Osborne’s attention to the students. She not

Inside a scientist’s mind: how to study the effects of viral infections

Stefanie Valbon July 7, 2020

For the past few months, we all increased our appreciation for the work done by scientists. But, a few of us might be thinking… “Come on, why is it taking so long to generate this vaccine?” I have to break the news and tell you that there are so many,

Antibodies: a molecular tag of the immune system

Stefanie Valbon June 19, 2020

More than ever, we are hearing about how important our immune system is to help us stay healthy. More specifically, a lot of attention has been given to a molecule called antibodies. Scientists are currently running against the clock to harbour the power of antibodies (amongst other immune tools) to

How do immune cells talk?

Stefanie Valbon June 12, 2020

Communication has always been a key characteristic of our society, and it is one of the underlining features of our success. Evolution has allowed us to acquire the ability to speak and but also to develop other types of communications. Verbal, non-verbal, written and visual are a few examples. However,

The quest to generate questions: an interview with Dr. Martin J. Richer

Stefanie Valbon May 29, 2020

Hello, ImmunoThoughts’ readers, welcome to our first interview post! I have to start this post by saying how extremely fortunate I am. I was very lucky to have an amazing mentor for the past 5 years. For me, there was not a doubt about who would be the first person

‘Hasta la vista, baby’: CD8 T cell, the killer machine of the immune system

Stefanie Valbon May 22, 2020

Today I decided to present the role of the coolest immune cell of all. This cell has the ability to kill cells that are infected with virus or bacteria. Now that we already have a general idea of how an immune response works (recognize, remove, remember and repeat) I will