Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

"Macrophages are critical immune cells that provide innate defense to help regulate antiviral and antibacterial immune responses. After infections, macrophages are able to modify their phenotype and effector functions depending on the immune mediators being released also known as cytokines. Two important cytokines that can affect macrophage development include the Macrophage Colony Stimulating Factor (M-CSF) and the Granulocyte Macrophage Colony Stimulating Factor (GM-CSF). When present alone, these cytokines can be used to differentiate two different types of macrophages. M-CSF induces a neutral/anti-inflammatory phenotype, where GM-CSF induces a pro-inflammatory phenotype. The relationship between GM-CSF and M-CSF when administered to macrophages simultaneously has not been well studied. My research involves investigating the interaction between GM-CSF and M-CSF during macrophage differentiation. Specifically, to functionally and phenotypically establish if competition or antagonism between the two CSFs occurs during bone marrow macrophage differentiation. We anticipate that GM-CSF will exert dominance over M-CSF in the absence or presence of viral infection. To address my hypothesis, I will differentiate bone marrow-derived macrophages by culturing them in various ratios of the CSFs based on their concentrations and then stimulate them with bacterial substances or expose them to a virus infection. Macrophage functions, cell morphology, and intracellular signalling pathways will be investigated to define the impact of antagonism that M-CSF and GM-CSF can exert on each other during macrophage differentiation. This work will elucidate the mechanisms by how these CSF can affect macrophages' immune functions during infections. "