Think of your tonsils as small hubs of your immune system, helping your body learn to fight infections. In our lab, we’re creating tiny 3D models of tonsils, called ‘tonsil organoids.’ These mini-tonsils allow us to study how the immune system can sometimes mistakenly produce antibodies against self-antigens such as MuSK in myasthenia gravis without a clear cause.

We are particularly interested in understanding the origin (‘etiology’) of IgG4 autoimmune diseases, and we use Myasthenia Gravis as one of our model diseases. Myasthenia Gravis is an illness where the body’s immune system attacks the communication between nerves and muscles resulting in fatigable muscle weakness. By using our tonsil organoid model, we aim to get a better understanding of these (auto)immune responses.

My project is connected to www.huijberslab.org.