Interferon regulation of T-bet in airway smooth muscle

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A Mentored Career Development Award will allow me to become an innovative, recognized investigator and instructor by expanding my research skills, enhancing my ideas for my own research program in airway smooth muscle biology, and providing me with opportunities to continue to develop expertise in teaching through the outlined career development and research plans. I believe that my previous training and research experience at both large and small universities has given me an excellent foundation in which to begin an independent research career. As a graduate student, I endured a rigorous program of study that emphasized critical and analytical thinking, oral communication and presentation skills, and research excellence in the neurosciences. As a post-doctoral fellow, I developed an interest in the role of airway smooth muscle (ASM) in inflammatory events that contribute to airway diseases and took advantage of opportunities to gain teaching experience. I continue my interest in airway smooth muscle biology with this proposal by examining the T-box transcription factor T-bet in ASM. The proposed career development plan will facilitate my goals through intellectual interactions with colleagues, students and my mentor, Dr. William T. Gerthoffer, along with participation in structured activities including University service, attendance at scientific meetings, and involvement in teaching, career development and laboratory management workshops and seminars. The research project described here examines the hypothesis that ASM expression of T-bet participates in the development of a secretory smooth muscle cell phenotype that affects the inflammatory response by increasing T helper cell 1 (Th1) cytokine secretion. The experiments described will examine IFNgamma regulation of T-bet expression in ASM, determine whether T-bet expression contributes to the development of a secretory smooth muscle cell phenotype by upregulating Th1 cytokines, and addresses whether T-bet alters the functions of ASM cells such as proliferation, migration and contraction. There are few places that I would have the opportunity to interact with faculty that are as recognized for their expertise in smooth muscle cell biology than at the University of Nevada School of Medicine. This award will allow me to begin to ask novel questions about the secretory phenotype of ASM in this supportive research environment that is committed to furthering junior faculty development.