Current Projects

• Role of marginal zone in antigen uptake 
  Submitted by Jonathan Clingan  (UCSF, San Francisco, CA, United States) 10/2/2010
  We are studying the role of marginal zone cells for antigen uptake in LCMV.



• Innate immune response to Cryptosporidium 
  Submitted by Vincent McDonald  (Barts and the London School of Medicine, London, United Kingdom) 2/10/2010
  Cryptosporidium parvum is an intestinal protozoan parasite that infects epithelial cells. Innate immune responses are important for the control of infection. We have found that NK cells are involved in immunity, but mice lacking T cells, B cells and NK cells are still able to partially resist infection in an IFN-gamma-dpendent manner. We are interested in determining the role of other immune cells in innate immunity.



• Understanding Aneurysm Pathenogenesis in Murine Aneurysm Model 
  Submitted by Downes Daniel  (University of Florida - Neurosurgery Dept, Gainesville, FL, United States) 2/9/2010
  We are investigating the developement of murine aneurysms.



• Carbohydrate mediated platelet clearance 
  Submitted by Max Adelman  (Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States) 8/2/2010
  The goal of these studies is to determine the pathway(s) by which hepatocytes and/or macrophages ingest platelets to accelerate their clearance from the circulation. Until recently, the only well-established mechanisms affect-ing platelet survival were antibody-mediated platelet clearance, consumption of platelets by coagulation reactions and loss due to massive bleeding. An effort to address a practical problem, how to refrigerate platelets for transfusion, led us to define an unsuspected carbohydrate-based platelet clearance mechanism where the alphaMbeta2 receptor on Kupffer cells recognized clustered betaGlcNAc moieties on GPIbalpha(< 4h). We have now made the striking observation that mouse platelets lacking sialic acid (refrigerated for 48h or platelets from sialyl-tranferase ST3GalIV null mice) are removed in the liver, principally by hepatocytes, not macrophages. The aim of the project is to define the role of the ASGP/MGL receptor(s) on hepatocytes and/or macrophages initiating platelet ingestion.
  More: http://translationalmedicine.bwh.harvard.edu/Team_Hoffmeister.htm



• Role of macrophage depletion in an experimental model of lymphoma  
  Submitted by Christophe Leboeuf  (Inserm / Université Paris Diderot, Paris, France) 8/2/2010
  In an experimental model of lymphoma (mouse), we need to investigate the role of macrophage in tumour proliferation. In this context, we would like to study the role of macrophage depletion in the progression of mouse tumour.



• Role of macrophages on CLEC-2 modulation of endotoxic shock 
  Submitted by Diego Mourao-Sa  (Cancer Research UK, London, United Kingdom) 4/2/2010
  We determined that the C-type lectin receptor CLEC-2 is expressed on macrophages, beside platelets and neutrophils. The triggering of CLEC-2 in an inflammatory disorder model contributes to disease progression. We want to evaluate the contribution of CLEC-2 expression on macrophages on the modulation of inflammatory disorders.



• Macrophage depletion in tumor surface transplants 
  Submitted by Nina Linde  (German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany) 4/2/2010
  Macrophages will be depleted from nude mice bearing tumor surface transplants. This project aims to study the role of macrophages in invasion and angiogenesis of VEGF-expressing tumors.



• CNS axon regeneration and macrophage 
  Submitted by Yi Lu  (Children's Hospital Boston, Boston, MA , United States) 4/2/2010
  We hope to investigate the role of macrophage in CNS motor axon regeneration after complete injury.



• Role of macrophages in Entamoeba Histolytica infection 
  Submitted by Podd Brad  (University of Virginia Div of Infectious Disease and Global Health, Charlottesville, VA, United States) 3/2/2010
  We plan to study the role of classically versus alternatively activated macrophages in a strain-dependent model of intestinal amoebiasis.



• lung damage repair post influenza infection 
  Submitted by Aishwarya Sridharan  (Singapore MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, Singapore, Singapore) 2/2/2010
  The role of Macrophage during the Lung Repair process.