This PhD thesis was carried out in the Experimental Immunology Research Group at BioMediTech, University of Tampere. I wish to thank the director of BioMediTech, Dr. Hannu Hanhijärvi, for the excellent facilities and a friendly working environment.
I would like express my gratitude to my supervisor Prof. Mika Rämet for taking me into his research group already at the beginning of my undergraduate studies and for giving me the opportunity to do both my master’s thesis and my PhD thesis under his supervision. I wish to thank him for making it possible for me to participate in many interesting projects and to learn a countless number of both in vitro and in vivo techniques. It has truly been a privilege to work in Mika’s lab, and I thank him for all the guidance, advice and the time he has given me during the years.
I would like to thank the external reviewers of my thesis, Prof. István Andó and Docent Maria Vartiainen, for their valuable comments and kind words. I would also like to thank Prof. Ulrich Theopold for giving me the honor of being my opponent.
I wish to thank my thesis committee members Prof. Heikki Hyöty and Prof. Dan Hultmark for their advice and encouraging comments about my projects. I would also like to thank Prof. Hultmark for his collaboration and for all of his Drosophila expertise he has shared with us during the years.
A big thank you to all of the past and present members of the Experimental Immunology lab, you have made the years in the lab really enjoyable. Particularly, I would like to thank Dr. Susanna Valanne, Dr. Anni Kleino, Dr. Johanna Ulvila, Dr.
Henna Myllymäki, Dr. Jenni Kallio, Docent Mataleena Parikka, Kaisa Oksanen, Meri Kaustio, Sanna Harjula, Anni Saralahti, Mirva Järvelä-Stölting, Annemari Uusimäki, Matilda Martikainen, Jenna Ilomäki, Leena Mäkinen and Hannaleena Piippo for all of their support and help with the practical as well as the mental side of my PhD project and especially for all the laughs and nice moments we have shared in the lab and also outside of it. A big thank you to Tuula Myllymäki for her practical help with cooking all the high-quality fly food.
Many thanks also to the wonderful colleagues at BioMediTech, and especially to our neighbors in Prof. Hultmark’s Genetic Immunology Research Group.
Particularly, I wish to thank Ines Anderl and Dr. Laura Vesala, for sharing their
scientific tools and methods, for their massive efforts with the second Edin paper and also for the great company and for the occational visits to the best (and newest) restaurants in Tampere. I would also like to thank the Umeå section of the group for the nice journal clubs, scientific discussions we have had on many Wednesday mornings via Skype during the years and also for the nice Drosophila retreats.
I wish to thank all the co-authors both in Finland and abroad, without whom none of this would have been possible.
Next, I would like to thank my friends outside the lab, who are an important part of my life. My partner in brunches and cakes, Elisa Kaaja, is acknowledged for all the memorable moments we have had and for being such a lovely person to be around with. I wish to thank Auri Kohola for all the baking, eating, traveling and TV nights we have shared together, and also for being the active part in our friendship when I have been “too busy” to keep in touch. I would like to thank Heidi Huovinen for her unconditional friendship and support during the countless years we have known each other. I wish to thank Dr. Kirsti Laurila for all the talks we have had about lab work and life in general as well as for the nice cooking sessions we have had (and maybe also for the irregular shop ‘til you drop sessions somewhere abroad).
A special place in my heart belongs to my friends at the Tampere Rugby Club, especially to the lovely TRC ladies. Thank you for lightening up my days on and off the pitch for the past years and for always taking an interest in my (weird) science projects. Many thanks to Hanna Visuri, Sonja Kivelä, Maija Kumpula, Alisa Myllynpää, Laura Malmi, Kati Miettinen, Ulla Korpi-Tassi, Heidi Ovaska and all the other rugby sisters who I failed to mention, and especially to Miia Joronen and Riina Mylläri for the cake and candy deliveries and the supporting messages during the writing process of this thesis.
I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my family. First, I would like to thank my wonderful parents, Ulla-Maija and Pentti Vanha-aho, for all of their love, care and encouragement and especially for always believing in me. I would like to thank my big brother Jani Vanha-aho and my big sister Hanna-Kaisa Desavelle for being the best brother and sister one could imagine. I also wish to thank my brother-in-law Jérôme Desavelle for introducing our family to the art of French champagne and cheese, and my lovely nephews Axel and André Desavelle for bringing so much joy to all of our lives. I also wish to thank Kirsti and Pekka Anttila for their warmth and kindness during the years. Last but not least, I want to thank my dearest Matti for his unconditional love and support during the many years we have spent together and for the many years to come.
This work was financially supported by the Tampere Graduate Program in Biotechnology and Biomedicine and the Orion-Farmos Research Foundation.
Tampere, January 2015 Leena-Maija Vanha-aho