Linterman Laboratory

The Linterman Lab's research focus is on how different cell types collaborate in the germinal centre to generate a robust antibody response following vaccination and infection throughout the course of live.

The team’s work combines research in mice, with human studies to enable us to deliver mechanistic insight into the germinal centre response that is of direct relevance to human health. The group is also investigating whether mRNA vaccines developed at the Malaghan and designed to stimulate the helper cells can ‘rejuvenate’ T follicular helper cells and help them support better germinal centre reactions to ultimately produce protective antibodies.

Research areas

Research projects

Ageing immunity
Germinal centre biology
Vaccinology
Tissue immunity

Dr Theresa Pankhurst

Te Urungi Research Fellow

Featured publications

Guillaume SM, Foster WS, San Martín Molina I, Watson EM, Innocentin S, Kennedy GM, Denton AE*, Linterman MA*. *Joint senior authors (2025). Lung B cells in ectopic germinal centers undergo affinity maturation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2025 Apr 8;122(14):e2416855122.

Lee JL, Innocentin S, Silva-Cayetano A, Guillaume SM, Linterman MA (2023). B Cells from Aged Mice Do Not Have Intrinsic Defects in Affinity Maturation in Response to Immunization. Journal of Immunology. 2023 Nov 15.

Silva-Cayetano A, Fra-Bido S, Robert PA, Innocentin S, Burton AR, Watson EM, Lee JL, Webb LMC, Foster WS, McKenzie RCJ, Bignon A, Vanderleyden I, Alterauge D, Lemos JP, Carr EJ, Hill DL, Cinti I, Balabanian K, Baumjohann D, Espeli M, Meyer-Hermann M, Denton AE, Linterman MA. (2023). Spatial dysregulation of T follicular helper cells impairs vaccine responses in aging. Nature Immunology.

Burton AR, Guillaume SM, Foster WS, Wheatley AK, Hill DL, Carr EJ*, Linterman MA*. *Joint senior authors (2022). The memory B cell response to influenza vaccination is impaired in older persons. Cell Reports. 2022 Nov 8;41(6):111613.

Denton AE, Dooley J, Cinti I, Silva-Cayetano A, Fra-Bido S, Innocentin S, Hill DL, Carr EJ, McKenzie ANJ, Liston A and Linterman MA. (2022). Targeting TLR4 during vaccination boosts MAdCAM-1+ lymphoid stromal cell activation and promotes GC responses in aging. Science Immunology. 2022 May 6;7(71):eabk0018.

Silva-Cayetano A†, Foster WS†, Innocentin S†, Belij-Rammerstorfer S, Spencer AJ, Burton OT, Fra-Bidó S, Lee JL, Thakur N, Conceicao C, Wright D, Barett J, Evans-Bailey N, Noble C, Bailey D, Liston A, Gilbert SC, Lambe T*, Linterman MA*. *Joint senior authors, †Joint first authors. (2021) A booster dose enhances immunogenicity of the COVID-19 vaccine candidate ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 in aged mice. Med. 2021 Mar 12;2(3):243-262.e8.