Mechanisms of T cell and monocyte infiltration in inflammation

A major component of chronic diseases such as arthritis, multiple sclerosis and inflammatory bowel disease is the result of the actions of T cells, a specific type of white blood cell found in lymph glands. The T cells of which there are numerous, more than twenty, types regulate the immune and inflammatory events in the injured tissue. The goal of our research is to understand the protein receptor molecules which control the migration of T cells from the blood into chronically inflamed organs. This migration is regulated by pro-inflammatory proteins produced by the tissue and other white blood cells. These proteins stimulate the blood vessel wall to express new molecules which the T cell in the blood binds to allowing to adhere to the vessel. The T cells are then stimulated to leave the blood by a second family of about 50 different proteins which activate selected subpopulations of the T cells that then induce inflammation and tissue injury. Our objective is to identify these interactions to control the inflammatory process and reduce damage to the tissue