Grant: Project Grant

Cells of the innate immune system play an essential role in both protective and pathological immune responses. Our studies have been focused on deciphering how a particular class of blood immune cell, patrolling monocytes (pMos), are regulated. pMos are "good" cells in that they help to fight atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's, and tumour metastasis, among other diseases. We aim to identify genes and regulatory pathways that control the development of pMos. These genes could be harnessed to stimulate increased production of these cells within the body, in order to treat disease. We have already identified one such gene, which encodes an enzyme. This enzyme is present in pMos, and when it is activated it inhibits their development. Our research will further determine how this gene and the enzyme it encodes inhibits the development pMos, and will also test whether blocking the activity of this enzyme (drugs are available already) would boost pMo numbers and therefore promote various cancer therapies that are used in the clinic.