【国際交流レポート15】インターンシップ報告（Wisaさん）
2023/12/8
【国際交流レポート15】
獣医学研究院は卓越大学院プログラムに参画しています。
https://onehealth.vetmed.hokudai.ac.jp/
本プログラムの特別なカリキュラムには「海外インターンシップ」が含まれており、
プログラムに所属する大学院生は国際機関や研究機関、企業などに滞在して専門的なインターンシップに取り組みます。
今回の国際交流レポートでは、当研究室のWisa Tiyamaneeさん（博士課程2年）がインターンシップ（2023年10月、1ヶ月間）での活動を報告します。
Internship at the Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota
As one of the World-leading Innovative and Smart Education (WISE) program students, which encourage participants to be involved in One Health issue, I had a chance to conduct my internship at the Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, U.S.A, supervised by Prof. Pamela J. Skinner.
“Pam’s lab” that I visited is well-known for improving chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell efficiency for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. HIV infection can lead to chronic threatening diseases such as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDs) or lymphoma due to immune evasion and exhausted immune cells. My primary research also studies the pathogenesis of immune exhaustion during bovine leukemia virus (BLV) infection; that’s the reason I am interested in this laboratory. This lab’s research for HIV therapy has developed so far, and one of the most critical therapeutic methods is cell therapy called CAR T cell therapy. Unfortunately, HIV has a strong immune evasion strategy as they escape into B cell follicles, so killer immune cells can’t control them. To solve this problem, they construct the CAR/CXCR5 T cell with immunoinhibitory molecules knocked down genes and test the production efficiency and functionality either in vitro or in vivo. Because CXCR5 is required to home the B cell follicles that don’t have high expression in original T cells, they solved the hypothesis that T cells with CXCR5 can migrate into B cell follicles. For the next step, they tried to knock down the immunoinhibitory molecule as PD-1 from T cells to prevent T cell exhaustion; here’s the point I have a chance to join. It was a great experience to shadow and learn new techniques that might apply to my research, especially migration assays and RNAscope.
Moreover, I have many chances to join local and international seminars either online or on-site. I gained a lot of motivation for research, and it encouraged me to focus on my academic future career.
Cancer and Cardiovascular Research Building (CCRB), University of Minnesota
Pam’s lab member
Research activities during the internship
Progress presentation in the last week of my internship
