
Jukka Alinikula
Adjunct Professor
Unit of Infection and Immunity, Institute of Biomedicine
University of Turku
The research interest of Jukka Alinikula focuses on the pathways intrinsic to B lymphocytes that lead to protective antibody-mediated immunity. The current focus of the research team is to unravel the mechanisms governing the targeting of somatic hypermutation within the genome. Somatic hypermutation drives the generation of high-affinity antibodies, which are central to protective immunity. However, while mostly targeting immunoglobulin genes, somatic hypermutation can mis-target proto-oncogenes, potentially leading to cancer, particularly lymphoma. The research team is dedicated to dissecting the governing rules and mechanisms of mutation enhancers in the human genome and beyond. The team employs modern molecular biology, sequencing technologies, and reporter systems to dissect the function of the mutable genome in health and disease.