Mechanisms and functional consequences of platelet-macrophage cross-talk

虽然众所周知，血小板在血液凝固中的作用，但最近的研究表明，它们是真正的免疫细胞，能够调节炎症和免疫细胞功能。因此，炎症引起的血小板生物学变化可以导致先天免疫细胞和获得性免疫细胞的进一步下游变化。巨噬细胞代表着与血小板相互作用的关键的“专业”免疫细胞。血小板和单核/巨噬细胞在骨髓中相互并排发育，在血液中共同循环并相互结合，巨噬细胞在正常生理条件下和炎症中可以吞噬血小板。在这个项目中，学生将研究血小板调节巨噬细胞发育和功能的生物学机制。这使得体内的模型具有很好的特征性的血小板数量变化，并将评估导致血小板生物学变化的炎症系统。该项目将提供细胞和分子生物学、免疫细胞功能、体内实验和成像以及蛋白质组学方面的培训。该项目将适合对血液学和/或免疫学有浓厚兴趣和背景知识的生物医学科学、生物化学、生物学或相关学科的毕业生。

Whilst platelets are well known for their role in blood clotting, more recentstudies have revealed they are bona fide immune cells capable ofmodulating inflammation and immune cell function. As such,inflammation-induced changes in platelet biology can in turn lead tofurther downstream changes in innate and adaptive immune cells.Macrophages represent a key "professional" immune cell that interactswith platelets. Platelets and monocytes/macrophages develop alongsideeach other in the bone marrow, circulate together and bind each other inthe blood, and macrophages can phagocytose platelets under normalphysiological conditions and in inflammation.In this project, the student will investigate the biological mechanisms bywhich platelets regulate macrophage development and function. This willutilise in vivo models with well-characterised alterations in plateletnumbers and will assess inflammatory systems that induce alterations inplatelet biology. This project will provide training in cellular and molecularbiology, immune cell function, in vivo experimentation and imaging, andproteomics.The project will be suitable for a graduate in Biomedical Sciences,Biochemistry, Biology or related subjects with a strong interest in andbackground knowledge of haematology and/or immunology.