Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an incurable inflammatory disorder that constitutes a significant public health burden in Canada. What causes IBD is unknown, but it is believed to be an abnormal inflammatory response that attacks the tissue in the intestinal tract. Normally, a type of white blood cells called regulatory T cells (Tregs) helps to suppress unnecessary inflammation, and boosting the activity of Tregs could prevent or treat IBD. A protein called NLRP3 is required for the production of certain potent inflammatory proteins. Therefore, NLRP3 has been thought to play a pathogenic role in inflammatory disorders, such as IBD. Recently, it was identified that functional NLRP3 was crucial for maintaining a healthy gut. Supporting this idea, several studies found mice that did not make any NLRP3 got IBD more easily compared to mice that did make NLRP3. My research is focused on evaluating how Tregs affect NLRP3 function. While Tregs generally shut off inflammatory responses, we found that they were able to enhance NLRP3 function and the production of inflammatory proteins. In order to understand this process, I will study how Tregs regulate NLRP3 function and the biological consequences of this regulation. This research will help our current understanding of the protective role of NLRP3 and Tregs and help to provide a better view of how Tregs function in IBD and also evaluate their potential as a therapy to prevent or treat IBD.