The role of the microphthalmia transcription factor family in macrophage differentiation.

巨噬细胞是大的白色血细胞，也存在于身体的所有组织中。它们是抵抗感染和恶性肿瘤的前线防御的主要部分，但它们也引起许多疾病的大部分病理学，特别是那些存在慢性炎症的疾病。巨噬细胞，像所有的血液细胞一样，是从骨髓中产生的。在巨噬细胞产生的过程中，必须启动一系列基因，以便成熟的巨噬细胞能够执行其功能。本项目旨在了解巨噬细胞中选择性基因表达的过程。它是基于一个基因家族的四个成员的鉴定，称为小眼症基因家族，作为控制巨噬细胞产生的整个过程的候选主基因。我们试图了解基因的产物是如何相互作用的。

Macrophages are large white blood cells that are also found in all the tissues of the body. They are a major part of the front line defence against infection and malignancy, but they also cause much of the pathology of many diseases particularly those in which there is chronic inflammation. Macrophages, like all the cells of the blood, are produced from the bone marrow. In the process of macrophage production a suite of genes must be switched on so that the mature macrophage can carry out its functions. This project aims to understand the process of selective gene expression in macrophages. It is based upon the identification of four members of a gene family, called the microphthalmia gene family, as candidate master genes that control the overall process of macrophage production. We seek to understand how the products of genes interact.