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Paul Godowski Staff Scientist: Immunology |
"An important role of the Innate Immune System is to interpret the nature of an inflammatory stimulus and direct the appropriate immune. This includes the immediate production of pro- or anti-inflammatory cytokines as well as presentation of antigens to T cells in the context of co-stimulatory molecules that ultimately dictate outcome of the adaptive immune response. In addition to provoking an adaptive immune response, myeloid cells (monocytes, macrophages, neutrophils and dendritic cells) are also important in the resolution of inflammation and the maintenance of tissue homeostasis. We are particularly interested in two important aspects of Innate Immunity.
- How do inflammatory macrophages and dendritic cells contribute to chronic inflammatory disorders? Clearly, these cells produce pro-inflammatory cytokines (such as TNF) that are important in the pathology of many autoimmune diseases. What are the factors that drive the production of these cytokines, and are there ways to inhibit the activation of these pathogenic macrophages and dendritic cells?
- Macrophages are very abundant in certain types of human tumors, and in most cases, abundant macrophage infiltration is associated with poor prognosis. This has lead to the hypothesis that these tumor associated macrophages (or TAMs) act to promote the growth and metastasis of tumors. While the exact mechanism by which TAMs contribute to the growth of human tumors remains to be demonstrated, evidence suggests that TAMs promote tumor angiogenesis as well as suppression of anti-tumor adaptive immune responses. We are examining the properties of TAMs derived from murine cancer models as well as from human tumors to further clarify the role of these cells in tumor biology, and to identify potential pathways to regulate the function of these cells."