Bring Out Your Dead - How Does Defective Apoptotic Cell Clearance By Tingible Body Macrophages Lead To The Activation Of Self-reactive B Cells In SLE?
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$721,597.00
Summary
Good housekeeping is critical to the day-to-day running of the immune system. In the case of the germinal centre, a key structure where plasma cells are generated, the ability to clear away dead and dying cells is critical because failure to do so can lead to the spillover of cellular waste and debris into the follicle where they can activate harmful B cells to make autoantibodies and cause disease. Understanding how this happens can lead to new ways to target and treat autoimmune diseases.
Defining A New Player In Atherosclerosis: The Role Of Adventitial Haemangioblasts As An Outside-in Driver Of Plaque Growth And Stability.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$728,005.00
Summary
As the underlying cause of heart attack, atherosclerosis is a leading cause of death worldwide. New approaches to treatment are desperately needed and this requires a better understanding of how atherosclerotic plaques form in arteries. This project studies a new population of stem cells that we have discovered in the outer layer of arteries, to determine how they cause plaques to form, so that we can develop new therapies that target these stem cells to more effectively treat atherosclerosis.