About the Project
Super-resolution microscopes, celebrated in the 2014 Nobel Prize for Chemistry, allow us to study immune cells in unprecedented detail. Recently, Davis’s research team has used these microscopes to study the changing arrangements of molecules on the surface of immune cells as they survey other cells for signs of disease. In collaboration with Hussell’s lab, expert in lung inflammation, we will now compare how the surface organisation of macrophages changes upon activation, and compare how this varies in health and disease, with a particular focus on asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. We will also explore how the structure of macrophage surfaces impacts the thresholds at which immune responses are turned on and off. As well as understanding how macrophages work, these data may seed new ways in which medicines could alleviate lung inflammation.
Dan Davis lab: http://www.davislab.manchester.ac.uk/
Dan Davis: http://www.manchester.ac.uk/research/Daniel.davis/
Tracy Hussell: http://www.manchester.ac.uk/research/Tracy.hussell/
Watch Dan Davis on YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf1IIW98trw&feature=youtu.be
Funding Notes
This project is to be funded under the MRC Doctoral Training Partnership. If you are interested in this project, please make direct contact with the Principal Supervisor to arrange to discuss the project further as soon as possible. You MUST also submit an online application form, full details on how to apply can be found on our website https://www.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/study/research/funded-programmes/mrc-dtp/.
Applications are invited from UK/EU nationals only. Applicants must have obtained, or be about to obtain, at least an upper second class honours degree (or equivalent) in a relevant subject.
References
1. Oszmiana A, Williamson DJ, Cordoba S-P, Morgan D.J, Kennedy P, Stacey K, Davis DM, The size of activating and inhibitory Killer Ig-like Receptor nanoclusters is controlled by the transmembrane sequence and impacts signaling. Cell Reports, 15, 1957-72 (2016).
2. Lagrue K, Carisey A, Morgan DJ, Chopra R, Davis DM, Lenalidomide augments actin remodeling and lowers NK-cell activation thresholds. Blood 126, 50-60 (2015).
3. Cartwright A, Griggs J, Davis DM, The immune synapse clears and excludes molecules above a size threshold, Nature Communications, 5, 5479 (2014).
4. Hussell T, Bell TJ. Alveolar macrophages: plasticity in a tissue-specific context, Nat Rev Immunol. 14, 81-93 (2014)
5. Davis DM, The Compatibility Gene (Penguin books, 2014)
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