Weizmann's Jakub Abramson Links Thymic Epithelial Cells and AIRE to Central Tolerance and Autoimmunity

Jakub Abramson of the Weizmann Institute spoke in a year-end Global ImmunoTalks session on how central tolerance is established in the thymus and how its breakdown drives autoimmunity. His laboratory focuses on thymic epithelial cells, particularly medullary TECs, which express tissue-restricted antigens through AIRE, and on how defects in this axis produce multi-organ autoimmunity such as APECED-like phenotypes and extend to tooth-related pathology. His group also works on translating these tolerance mechanisms into immunotherapy and diagnostic tools for autoimmune disease and cancer.