Jarrod Dudakov
@dudakov-lab
Immunology with a touch of regenerative medicine (or is it the other way around?). Thymus enthusiast at Fred Hutch (previously seen around Monash Uni & Sloan Kettering Institute) 🇦🇺 in 🇺🇸
Hard for me to believe but we had a beach day to celebrate the labs 10th anniversary (and promotion to full Professor). What a fantastic group of people (past and present) who have made it possible!
Moreover, despite the increase in IFNg, we also found that thymic epithelial cells (TECs) actually decreased their MHCI expression after damage, making them vulnerable to NK-mediated killing. Given the central importance of TECs for all thymic function, their killing after damage inhibits repair.
But to our surprise, although upregulated in response to IL-18, this inhibitory effect was not mediated by IFNg. Instead, both perforin and granzyme could limit thymic regeneration, but only perforin was regulated by IL-18.
Using a slew of mouse strains and assays including imaging, single-cell sequencing, parabiosis, and more, David found that IL-18 released by hematopoietic (DC/macrophage) and non-hematopoietic (mesothelial) cells activated NK cells (but not ILC1) limiting repair via their cytotoxic function.
David found that indeed there was an activation of pro-inflammatory IL-1 and IL-18, and that this was not just a feature of ionizing radiation-induced injury but was a common response across a range of damage modalities including corticosteroid stress, LPS, and cytoreductive chemotherapy.
This has been a really fun one, not least of which because it was driven by our first bona fide graduate student, an incredibly talented MSTP student @david-granadier.bsky.social.
How on Earth is he still referred to as a vaccine skeptic? I think we are well beyond that now. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/09/h...
This rings very true for me and my science awakening really. Realizing that this work we had published added a small (probably very small) but meaningful contribution to a chain of knowledge stretching back through human history was one of the most powerful - almost religious - experiences I’ve had.
Interested in T cells and where they come from? Then now is the perfect opportunity to register for ThymUS (www.thymusmeeting.org). Don't miss out on what is shaping up to be a fantastic meting in gorgeous Kauai.
Post a perfect album from the 90s that isn’t Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, or Alice in Chains.
Wonderful day at Mayo Clinic Arizona visiting Drs. Lancaster, Maharlooei, Borges da Silva and other superstars. 🔥Immunology program they have built in the desert - and I'm told only a balmy 98 degrees today!