The Aguilar Lab studies natural killer (NK) cells, which are critical members of our immune system tasked with protecting us from viral infections and cancers. They are innate lymphocytes that use cell surface NK receptors to distinguish between self and non-self (or altered-self). If a target cell has been identified as harmful, NK cells release cytotoxic granules that directly kill the target cell. The NK field has greatly advanced our understanding of these cells however, there remain many outstanding questions. The Aguilar lab is working to fill in some of these gaps.
Our lab is located at the Parnassus Campus of the University of California – San Fransico in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. We are also embedded in the ImmunoX, Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, and iMicro communties as well as the BMS program.