Phagocytosis of filamentous targets

该机构抵御外来威胁和清理自身细胞碎片的战略是隔离和摧毁它们。这是由来自免疫系统的特殊细胞，吞噬细胞，通过一个称为吞噬的过程来执行的。在吞噬过程中，吞噬细胞吞噬它们的目标，然后在细胞内降解。为了完成它们的功能，吞噬细胞必须处理不同成分、形状和质地的靶标。 今天，许多吞噬作用的研究都集中在靶标的组成上。然而，对于靶细胞的物理性质如何影响吞噬过程，人们知之甚少。特别令人感兴趣的是长而纤维状的靶标，因为研究表明，这种形式的微生物和惰性颗粒都不容易被吞噬细胞吞噬。因此，这些类型的靶子更倾向于毒性效应，就像石棉和玻璃纤维的情况一样，或者像UPEC大肠杆菌这样的感染细菌的持久性。 我研究的主要目标将是调查为什么丝状目标，包括细菌和惰性颗粒，会成为吞噬细胞的障碍。 我们期望这个项目将有助于更好地理解控制吞噬作用的机制以及病原体用来逃避这一过程的方法。我们还希望更好地了解石棉纤维毒性背后的机理。从技术角度来看，这些发现可以为设计更安全的纤维工程材料贡献知识，比如纳米管，这些材料具有巨大的技术和经济潜力。

The body's strategy to protect against foreign threats and clean its own cellular debris is to isolate and destroy them. This is carry out by specialized cells from the immune system, phagocytes, through a process called phagocytosis. During phagocytosis, phagocytes engulf and eat their targets, which are then degraded inside the cell. To fulfill their function, phagocytes must process targets of different composition, shape and texture. Today, much of phagocytosis research has focused on the composition of the target. However, little is known about how target's physical properties affect the phagocytic process. Of particular interest are long and fibrous targets because studies have shown that both microbes and inert particles of that form can not be easily ingested by phagocytes. Therefore, these type of targets favor toxic effects, as is the case for asbestos and glass fibers, or the persistence of infections bacteria, like UPEC E.coli. The main objective of my research will be to investigate why filamentous targets, both bacterial and inert particles, become a hurdle for phagocytosis. We expect that this project will contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms that control phagocytosis and the ways utilized by pathogens to escape this process. We also expect to reach a better understanding of the mechanism behind the toxicity of asbestos fibers. From a technological perspective, such findings could contribute knowledge to the design of more safe fibrous engineered materials, like nanotubes, which are of an enormous technological and economical potential.