Onderzoeksstage: 6/9 maanden
Scriptie mogelijk: nee
Chronic autoimmune joint inflammation causes severe pathology and movement impairment in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Recently, we have shown that members of the IL-2 family, thymic stromal lymphopoetin (TSLP) and IL-7 are potent proinflammatory cytokines that promote experimental arthritis. Currently, by using different approaches (including microarray), we are studying in detail the mechanisms by which TSLP and IL-7 facillitate immunopathology. In this research line we want to address several questions:
1) To what extent are TSLP and IL-7 expressed in RA synovial tissue and how is this production regulated?
2) In what way do TSLP and IL-7 modulate effector T cell functions?
3) How do candidate molecules mediate TSLP and IL-7-induced T cell-dependent monocyte/macrophage and dendritic cell activation?
4) To what extent are these pathways resistant to anti-rheumatic therapies?
Techniques
Culture of human tissue and/or cells; MACS cell sorting to isolate T cells (and subsets) B cells and monocytes; cell phenotyping by FACS analysis; intra-cellular cytokine staining; cytokine assessment by ELISA; proliferation assays; immunohistochemistry.
Contactpersonen:
Dr. Joel van Roon
J.vanRoon@umcutrecht.nl, 088-755 7063
Prof. Floris Lafeber
F.Lafeber@umcutrecht.nl, 088-755 8521