The A*STAR Fellowship Scheme honours outstanding individuals who exemplify research excellence and leadership in their fields. This year, Dr Anand Andiappan joins the ranks of our past A*STAR Fellows, and we would like to extend our heartiest congratulations to him and his team!

Want to know how antibodies in breastmilk modulates the infant immune system? Check out this amazing story from Dr. Meera K. Shenoy from the Koch lab (@fredhutch) in the latest issue of Science. Link here:.#breastfeeding #SIgNCentreOfExcellence #Immunology

The most fun image & video creation tool in the world is here. Try it for free in the Grok App.

Dear SIgN-tists and Friends of SIgN, . Happy National Day! May we flourish together as one people and Singapore!. #ASTARSG #SIgNCentreOfExcellence #NDP2025  #SG60

SIgN heartily congratulates Dr Tay and his team on their first publication as an independent lab!.You can read the full article here:

As 5-HT2A inhibitor drugs are available as oral tablets, they are more convenient for patients as compared to immunotherapies that typically require intravenous infusion at specialised facilities. The team hopes that this work will contribute to accessible therapties for HCC. 5/6.

Targeting 5-HT2A using either a selective antagonist drug, ketanserin, or by knockout of its coding gene Htr2a, boosted the cytotoxic effector phenotype of mouse CD8 T cells. Ketanserin also prolonged survival in mice with HCC, which is on par with combination immunotherapy. 4/6.

The team thus sought to find a more accessible way of enhanced anti-tumor T cell responses. Using high throughput functional screening of drug compound library previously approved for other indications, 5-HT2A serotonin receptor was identified as a potential target. 3/6.

HCC is a leading global cause of death and is especially prevalent in East and Southeast Asia. Despite recent breakthroughs in combination immunotherapies, the intrinsic immunosuppression within liver remains a challenge in addition to immunotherapies being costly and limited 2/6.

#HotOffThePress New Publication Alert! SIgN Group Leader, Dr Tay Rong En and his team show in new research that inhibition of serotonin receptor 5-HT2A could potentiate anti-tumor T cell activity in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)! 1/6

Dear all,. From everyone at SIgN, we wish you a restful day filled with harmony, peace and joy. Prof Lam Kong Peng, ED of SIgN

Dear SIgN-tists and friends of SIgN,.We wish you a day of peace, love and light on this Deepavali!

SIgN heartily congratulates Dr Tay and his team on their publication!.You can read the full article here:

As MPI utilizes non-radioactive, non-immunogenic labels through MNPs, they can give much stronger signals compared to commonly used MRI, due to less noise interference from unlabelled tissues. As such, this technology holds much promise for future translation to the clinic! 5/6.

With these multiple breakthroughs, the team successfully demonstrated quantitative in vivo tracking of MNP-labelled antigen-specific CD8 T cells in mouse models of immunisation and solid tumours. 4/6.

Lastly, they built a portable imager which achieves similar signal sensitivity and resolution compared to other MPI devices with a similar field strength. 3/6.

The team custom engineered a magnetic plate that generates an optimally-shaped magnetic field to draw MNPs into the cytosol of cells, labelling >95% of cells in just two hours and increasing MNP uptake 10-fold, allowing the cells to be followed for up to 2 weeks in vivo! 2/6.

#HotOffThePress New Publication Alert! SIgN Group Leader, Dr Tay Rong En and his team show in new research a method to easily label and track transferred immune cells via Magnetic Nanoparticles (MNPs)! 1/6.

. #MeetOurSIgntists.Alas, our long awaited new group leader interview with Dr. Wang Liang Wei! Find out about his favourite B(s), B cells and Boba!.#immunology.

A taste of something new? Join us for this interesting seminar by Prof Heimo Breiteneder in SIgN next Friday, 11th October, and learn about seed storage proteins in allergies!

Congratulations to our bright young SIgN-tists who have been awarded the prestigious OF-Young Individual Research Grant from the National Medical Research Council!. From left to right:Wendy Lee (OR Lab), @ImmanuelKwok (CSZ Lab), William Ho (FG Lab) and @im_mel_nology (CSZ Lab)