University of Utah · BiologyBettini Immunology Lab
Maria Bettini · Salt Lake City, Utah
Research Focus
Dr. Maria Bettini's lab focuses on understanding how T cells, which are crucial for immune responses, may contribute to autoimmune diseases like Type 1 Diabetes (T1D). The lab investigates the mechanics of T cell receptor interactions with self-antigens and how these interactions can lead to T cell persistence in autoimmune conditions. By using cutting-edge technologies, they aim to uncover how T cells can evade normal regulatory mechanisms, potentially leading to new therapies for autoimmune diseases.
T cell receptorType 1 diabetesautoimmunityT cell persistencebeta cellself-antigensimmunologyTregschronic inflammation
Research Aims
4AIM 01Investigate TCR biophysical parameters affected by autoimmune MHC.
AIM 02Study structural components of TCR that influence interaction stability.
AIM 03Assess the role of low-affinity T cells in autoimmune T cell persistence.
AIM 04Determine survival mechanisms of high and low affinity autoreactive T cells.
Skills the Lab Values
T cell cultureflow cytometryRT-PCRimmunofluorescenceprotein binding assaysmicroscopyanimal modelsbiophysical measurementsmolecular cloning
Output against the department
Publications68bottom 18% of dept.840th of 1,033
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations1.8kbottom 12% of dept.912th of 1,033
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.