Role of Wnk1 kinase in T cell adhesion and migration

白细胞是人体免疫系统的关键组成部分，在对抗病毒、细菌和其他病原体的感染方面发挥着关键作用。我们的研究重点是一种名为T细胞的白细胞，它可以检测其他细胞内病毒等感染性物质的存在。我们感兴趣的是了解T细胞识别另一个细胞内是否含有感染剂的机制。作为这个过程的一部分，T细胞和被感染的细胞必须紧密地相互黏附，我们正在研究这种黏附过程。在最近的工作中，我们发现一种名为Wnk1的蛋白质在调节T细胞黏附方面发挥重要作用，在我们现在提出的研究中，我们将通过检测T细胞在缺乏这种蛋白质时如何发挥作用来扩展这项工作，以及这是否使它们在促进正常免疫反应方面存在缺陷。我们怀疑Wnk1也可能控制T细胞如何在体内迁移。正常的T细胞不断移动，在血液、淋巴结和脾之间进行运输。这种持续的运动是T细胞的一个重要特征，因为它允许它们在体内巡逻，寻找感染的迹象。我们将研究Wnk1蛋白在控制T细胞迁移中的这一潜在功能。我们怀疑Wnk1蛋白作为一种信号蛋白，将信号从细胞表面传递到黏附分子。我们将通过寻找Wnk1向其传递信号的其他蛋白质来进一步研究这一假说。总体而言，我们的目标是了解Wnk1是如何控制T细胞黏附和迁移的。这些知识将为设计合理的药物提供新的机会，这些药物可以调节T细胞的功能，从而调节整个免疫系统。

White blood cells are a key part of the body's immune system, playing a critical role in combating infections by viruses, bacteria and other pathogens. Our research is focussed on a type white blood cell called a T cell, which can detect the presence of an infectious agent such as a virus inside other cells. We are interested in understanding the mechanism by which a T cell recognises whether another cell contains an infectious agent within it. As part of this process, the T cell and the infected cell have to adhere tightly to each other and we are studying this process of adhesion.In recent work we have identified that a protein called Wnk1 plays an important role in regulating T cell adhesion, and in the research we are now proposing, we will extend this work by examining how the T cells function when they lack the protein, and whether this makes them defective in contributing to normal immune responses. We suspect that Wnk1 may also control how the T cells migrate through the body. Normal T cells are continuously on the move, trafficking between the blood and lymph nodes and the spleen. This continuous movement is a vital feature of the T cells as it allows them to patrol the body looking for signs of infection. We will investigate this potential function of the Wnk1 protein in controlling T cell migration.We suspect that Wnk1 functions as a signalling protein, transmitting signals from the surface of the cell to adhesion molecules. We will investigate this hypothesis further by looking for other proteins to which Wnk1 transmits a signal. Overall our aim is to understand how Wnk1 controls T cell adhesion and migration. Such knowledge will reveal new opportunities for the design of rational drugs that could modulate the function of T cells and thereby the whole immune system.