Shawna McLetchie
Hanover College
Mark Boothby lab
I'm interested in the role of adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) in humoral immunity. AMPK is a conserved energy sensor that helps regulate healthy intracellular ATP concentrations in most cell types. During an immune response, B cells rapidly proliferate and differentiate into plasma cells which secrete high affinity antibody to help clear insulting pathogens. Rapid proliferation and robust immunoglobulin production is energetically demanding of B cells. Therefore, I am interested in the role of AMPK in B cell biology during an immune response.