The role of protein arginine methylation in T lymphocyte migration

我们感兴趣的是找出协调白细胞识别并向组织炎症部位迁移的基本机制。这不仅有助于设计新的有效抗炎药物，也有助于设计抗癌药物，因为各种肿瘤细胞的扩散也依赖于类似的迁移机制。一组被称为趋化因子的分子起着“归航信标”的作用，将细胞引导到组织损伤的部位，在那里它们需要对抗感染或对组织损伤做出反应。当炎症消退受损和/或炎症反应被不恰当地启动时，细胞在组织中不必要地积累，导致一系列炎症或自身免疫性疾病。细胞内的生化信号传递信息，允许细胞响应趋化因子移动，并提供方向感。沃德教授发现了新的证据，证明在蛋白质上添加所谓的甲基可能是细胞迁移的重要机制。我们计划使用分子和化学相结合的方法，为控制和了解细胞和生物体内的个体甲基化蛋白提供最有力的方法。最终，我们获得的化学物质和信息可能会结合起来，用于未来开发可能阻止不必要的细胞迁移的新药。

We are interested in working out the fundamental mechanisms that orchestrate the way that white blood cells recognise and migrate toward sites of tissue inflammation. This will help in the design of not only new effective anti-inflammatory drugs but also anti-cancer drugs, since the spread of various tumour cells also relies on similar migratory mechanisms.A family of molecules referred to as chemokines act as ‘homing beacons’ and direct cells to the site of tissue injury where they are required to fight infection or respond to tissue injury. When the resolution of inflammation is impaired and/or the inflammatory response is switched on inappropriately, cells accumulate in tissues unnecessarily, leading to a range of inflammatory or autoimmune diseases. Biochemical signals within cells convey information that allow cells to move in response to chemokines and provide a sense directionality. Professor Ward has uncovered new evidence that addition of so-called methyl groups to proteins could be an important mechanism for cell migration. We plan to use a combined molecular and chemical approaches that provide the most powerful way to control and learn about individual methylated proteins within cells and organisms. Ultimately, the chemicals and information that we obtain may be combined for future development of new drugs that may block unwanted cell migration.