Hedgehog signalling in T-cell differentiation and function

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

T-cells are white blood cells that enable us to fight infectious disease and also help us to get rid of cancer, but T-cells can also cause autoimmune disease when they do not function properly and allow the immune system to attack our own bodies. T-cells are important for fighting disease both because they can attack pathogens and cancer cells themselves and because they can control the immune response of other cell types and help to prevent inflammation. There are different kinds of T-cells which have different functions in fighting infectious disease and regulating other cells of the immune response. Some T-cells directly attack tumour cells and cells which are infected by viruses and some T-cells release signals which instruct other white blood cells to make antibodies or to attack pathogens. Some T-cells also regulate other cells of the immune system to prevent inflammation and autoimmune disease. When T-cells do not function properly we become more likely to suffer from infectious disease and cancer, and also more likely to get autoimmune disease such as rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes. It is therefore very important for human health and the health of animals to understand how T-cells function and what controls their different functions. This project will investigate factors that influence how T-cells fight disease and how they survive and divide. We will investigate a family of molecules known as Hedgehog proteins and what effect they have on T-cells. We aim to find out what Hedgehog proteins do in the different kinds of T-cells and if they control how T-cells function. We will also investigate how the different Hedgehog proteins have these effects in T-cells.