The study of recycling endosomes in innate immune cells

我的研究重点是细胞因子在先天免疫细胞中的运输机制。细胞因子向细胞表面的运输涉及回收内小体(RES)，这是将蛋白质货物分拣到质膜和从质膜运输出去的基本隔间。最近，人们发现Res能将细胞因子肿瘤坏死因子-α从高尔基体运输到巨噬细胞的细胞膜上。然而，Res在粒细胞运输和释放细胞因子中的存在和功能还知之甚少。粒细胞是体内循环中最丰富的先天免疫细胞，具有从血液向组织中迁移的能力。在组织渗透时，粒细胞释放大量的细胞因子，这些细胞因子具有强大的促炎作用。因此，粒细胞是强大的分泌细胞，在免疫中起着双刃剑的作用。此外，粒细胞具有强大的蛋白质运输系统，是研究细胞因子分泌的完美模型。

My research program is focused on the mechanisms of cytokine trafficking in innate immune cells. Trafficking of cytokines to the cell surface involves recycling endosomes (REs), an essential compartment for sorting and transportation of protein cargo to and from the plasma membrane. Recently, REs have been discovered to constitutively traffic the cytokine, tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF), from the Golgi to the cell membrane in macrophages. However, the presence and function of REs in trafficking and release of cytokines in granulocytes is poorly understood. Granulocytes are the most abundant circulating innate immune cells in the body, and have the ability to transmigrate into tissues from the blood. Upon tissue infiltration, granulocytes release copious quantities of cytokines, which have potent proinflammatory effects. Thus, granulocytes are powerful secretory cells that function as a double-edged sword in immunity. In addition, granulocytes have robust protein trafficking systems that serve as perfect models for studying the secretion of cytokines.