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ingenious targeting laboratory/ Researcher Spotlight
No. 003 · August 2026
FeatureOncology · Tumor Immunology

A Lysosomal Brake That Sustains Anti-Tumor Immunity

Inside the Billadeau lab at Mayo Clinic, where a knockout mouse reveals how lysosomal NKG7 restrains mTORC1 to preserve CD8 T cell durability and the capacity to control tumors over time.

Citation
Ham H, Hirdler JB, Bihnam DT, Mao Z, Gicobi JK, Macedo BG, et al. Lysosomal NKG7 restrains mTORC1 activity to promote CD8+ T cell durability and tumor control. Nat Commun. 2025;16(1):1628.
Read on PubMed →
The Model

Knockout at the endogenous locus, ready for functional interrogation.

Explore Knockout Models
Model Type
Knockout (confirm conventional vs conditional from Methods)
Target Gene
Nkg7 (orthologous to human NKG7)
Strategy
Loss of function allele at the endogenous Nkg7 locus, profiled in CD8 T cells and in tumor bearing cohorts
Background
C57BL/6
Validation
Deletion confirmed at the protein level; immune cell populations and tumor growth kinetics compared against littermate controls (verify specifics from Methods)
Therapeutic Area
Immuno oncology, CD8 T cell biology, mTORC1 signaling

The Billadeau Lab

Daniel D. Billadeau, PhD is Professor of Immunology at Mayo Clinic. The Billadeau lab studies the intracellular signaling and trafficking pathways that shape T cell and NK cell function, with a focus on translational opportunities in immuno oncology.