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Gillian Griffiths

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Gillian Griffiths
Born
Gillian M. Griffiths
Alma mater
Awards
Scientific career
Fields
Institutions
ThesisMolecular analysis of the immune response (1983)
Doctoral advisorCésar Milstein
Websitemed.cam.ac.uk/griffiths

Gillian Griffiths is a British cell biologist and immunologist. Griffiths was one of the first to show that immune cells have specialised mechanisms of secretion, and identified proteins and mechanisms that control cytotoxic T lymphocyte secretion. [1][2][3][4][5][6]

Current research

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Griffiths is Professor of Cell Biology and Immunology at the University of Cambridge, running a research laboratory at the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research. She was Director of CIMR from 2013 until 2017. In 2024, she was appointed as the new Chair of the Department of Cell Biology at Yale School of Medicine, effective 1st April 2025.[7]. Her work leverages advanced microscopy techniques to image cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) as they kill cancerous target cells, as well as functional assays and biochemical techniques[8]. Recently, work from her lab has uncovered a link between mitochondrial protein translation and CTL cytotoxicity[9], termination of T cell receptor signalling at the immune synapse via ectocytosis (outward membrane budding)[10], and a link between transcription of new RNAs and the ability of CTLs to infiltrate target cell clumps[11].

Education

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When she was young, Griffiths initially thought she might like to be an ecologist. However, she began her scientific career at University College London by studying immunology. She continued in the subject, undertaking her PhD at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge supervised by César Milstein.[12]

Awards and honours

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Griffiths' research is largely funded by the Wellcome Trust, having been awarded Principle Research Fellowships in 2014 and 2019, and a Discovery Award in 2024[13][14][15]. She is a Fellow at King's College, Cambridge and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2013. Her nomination for the Royal Society reads

Gillian Griffiths has made key contributions to the fields of both cell biology and immunology, introducing important new concepts into both fields. Gillian Griffiths was one of the first to show that immune cells use specialised mechanisms of secretion, identifying the proteins and mechanisms controlling secretion from cytotoxic T lymphocytes via high resolution live cell microscopy, biochemical approaches, and by studying human genetic diseases. Her work has identified a new and unexpected role for the centrosome in exocytosis, and revealed that centrosome docking at the plasma membrane provides a focal point for exocytosis. Her work is both elegant and insightful.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Professor Gillian Griffiths FMedSci FRS". The Royal Society. Archived from the original on 20 June 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
  2. ^ Stinchcombe, J. C.; Salio, M; Cerundolo, V; Pende, D; Arico, M; Griffiths, G. M. (2011). "Centriole polarisation to the immunological synapse directs secretion from cytolytic cells of both the innate and adaptive immune systems". BMC Biology. 9: 45. doi:10.1186/1741-7007-9-45. PMC 3149597. PMID 21711522.
  3. ^ Tsun, A; Qureshi, I; Stinchcombe, J. C.; Jenkins, M. R.; de la Roche, M; Kleczkowska, J; Zamoyska, R; Griffiths, G. M. (2011). "Centrosome docking at the immunological synapse is controlled by Lck signaling". The Journal of Cell Biology. 192 (4): 663–74. doi:10.1083/jcb.201008140. PMC 3044125. PMID 21339332.
  4. ^ Griffiths, G. M.; Tsun, A.; Stinchcombe, J. C. (2010). "The immunological synapse: A focal point for endocytosis and exocytosis". The Journal of Cell Biology. 189 (3): 399–406. doi:10.1083/jcb.201002027. PMC 2867296. PMID 20439993.
  5. ^ Cetica, V; Santoro, A; Gilmour, K. C.; Sieni, E; Beutel, K; Pende, D; Marcenaro, S; Koch, F; Grieve, S; Wheeler, R; Zhao, F; Zur Stadt, U; Griffiths, G. M.; Aricò, M (2010). "STXBP2 mutations in children with familial haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis type 5". Journal of Medical Genetics. 47 (9): 595–600. doi:10.1136/jmg.2009.075341. PMC 4115259. PMID 20798128.
  6. ^ Gillian Griffiths's publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
  7. ^ "Gillian Griffiths Named Chair of the Department of Cell Biology". 16 October 2024. Retrieved 3 January 2025.
  8. ^ "Griffiths Lab Website".
  9. ^ Miriam Lisci; Philippa R. Barton; Lyra O. Randzavola; Claire Y. Ma; Julia M. Marchingo; Doreen A. Cantrell; Vincent Paupe; Julien Prudent; Jane C. Stinchcombe; Gillian M. Griffiths (15 October 2021). "Mitochondrial translation is required for sustained killing by cytotoxic T cells". Science. 374 (6565). doi:10.1126/science.abe9977.
  10. ^ Jane C. Stinchcombe; Yukako Asano; Christopher J. G. Kaufman; Kristin Böhlig; Christopher J. Peddie; Lucy M Collinson; André Nadler; Gillian M. Griffiths (25 May 2023). "Ectocytosis renders T cell receptor signaling self-limiting at the immune synapse". Science. 380 (6647): 818–823. Bibcode:2023Sci...380..818S. doi:10.1126/science.abp8933. PMC 7614748. PMID 37228189.
  11. ^ Arianne C. Richard; Claire Y. Ma; John C. Marioni; Gillian M. Griffiths (20 October 2023). "Cytotoxic T lymphocytes require transcription for infiltration but not target cell lysis". EMBO Reports. 24 (11): e57653. doi:10.15252/embr.202357653. PMC 10626425. PMID 37860838.
  12. ^ Sedwick, C. (2013). "Gillian Griffiths: How T cells get on target". The Journal of Cell Biology. 200 (1): 4–5. doi:10.1083/jcb.2001pi. PMC 3542799. PMID 23295346.
  13. ^ "Molecular mechanisms controlling polarised secretion at the immunological synapse".
  14. ^ "Molecular mechanisms controlling cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) killing: From genes to secretion".
  15. ^ "Dynamic changes at the immune synapse controlling CTL function - Grants Awarded".
  16. ^ "Buchanan Medallist 2019". Royal Society. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
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