Nanoscale organisation of NK cell receptor-ligand complexes

NK cell activity must be tightly controlled to be beneficial for the organism and avoid excessive immune reactions. The communications among cells is mediated by several biological components, among which protein receptors displayed on the cell membrane play a central role. We wish to understand how the organization and activity of such receptors is regulated and we shall use small protein ligands to label them and tune their interaction possibilities.

Publications:

• D’Ercole C, de Marco A (2023) Native agarose gels and contact blotting as means to optimize the protocols for the formation of antigen–ligand complexes. Bioengineering 10:1111
• D’Ercole C, De March M, Veggiani G, Oloketuyi S, Svigelj R, de Marco A (2023) Biological applications of synthetic binders isolated from a conceptually new Adhiron library. Biomolecules 13:1533