Leucocyte & Endthelial Cell Biology

免疫系统的步兵，白细胞，不断地在身体中寻找入侵者，但被血管内部的内皮细胞的屏障所控制。当感染发生时，分子信息在白细胞之间以及白细胞和内皮细胞之间传递，激活免疫细胞走出血管，建立防御。不幸的是，激活系统有时会出错，导致炎症或过敏性疾病，如关节炎或哮喘。这组来自阿德莱德汉森研究所的研究人员，结合了分子和细胞生物学、蛋白质化学、结构生物学和动物模型方面的专业知识，已经在一起工作了10多年，研究了控制血管和白细胞形成和活动的分子机制。该项目旨在进一步了解这一点，并开发出有可能改善炎症状况的药物。

The foot soldiers of the immune system, the white blood cells, constantly march through the body seeking out invaders, but kept in check by the barrier of endothelial cells that lines the inside of blood vessels. When infection occurs, molecular messages are transmitted amongst the white cells and between white cells and edothelium, to activate the immune cells to pass out of the blood vessels and mount a defence. Unfortunatley, the activation system sometimes goes awry, resulting in inflammatory or allergic disease, such as arthritis or asthma. This team of researchers from the Hanson Institute in Adelaide, combining expertise in molecular and cell biology, protein chemestry, structual biology and animal models, has been working together for over 10 years, investigating the molecular mechanisms involved in controlling the formation and activities of blood vessels and white blood cells. This program seeks to further that understanding, and to develop drugs that have the potential of ameliorating the inflammatory condition.