Grant: Operating Grant - PA: Regional Partnership Program : Manitoba

Lymphocytes are important in fighting infections and cancers. In order to do this the cells travel in the blood and move through the tissues of the body to sites of injury and infection. However, in some cases such as arthritis and transplantation the immune cells can cause unwanted damage. An understanding of how these cells move and respond to outside signals could make it possible to find ways of directing cell movement to assist in fighting infections or to prevent unwanted damage. Our research is aimed at gaining an understanding of such processes. In order to identify proteins involved in migration we have used biochemical and genetic approaches. This includes isolation of the fronts of migrating cells and using genomic silencing methods to prevent the expression of proteins. The distribution of these proteins and the effects of their loss on cell movement are assessed microscopically. This provides a method for identifying key regulators in the process. We will then examine the roles of these molecules in normal human blood cells to determine if it may be possible to selectively control the migration of subsets of white blood cells. This could provide the basis for targeted control which could reduce the possible side effects of therapies.