Cell Biology
Dr Duncan Rogers, Head of Group
Confocal image of human sputum cells.
Macrophages are green, some of which express phosphodiesterase-7A (red).
Nuclei are blue.
The role of this research group is the further understanding of the cell biology underlying the pathophysiology of chronic inflammatory lung diseases, with a particular emphasis on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma.
The interests of the group fall into several categories, the most significant of which are:
- Airway mucus secretion (principal investigator, Dr Duncan Rogers)
- Airway cell function (PI, Dr Louise Donnelly)
- Biopharmaceutics (PI, Dr Mark Lindsay)
- Small airways function (PI, Dr Graham Sturton)
The group is involved in determining the role of different inflammatory cells including neutrophils, macrophages, T-lymphocytes and epithelial cells (including mucin-secreting cells) in the pathophysiological changes associated with the development of COPD and asthma.
In particular, we are investigating:
- Mechanisms of cell trafficking into the lung with particular reference to chemotactic responses.
- Signal transduction pathways leading to apoptosis and to the release of inflammatory mediators such as chemokines and cytokines and proteolytic enzymes.
- Inhibition of mucin secretion and MUC gene expression by novel pharmacotherapeutic compounds.
- Study of the biochemical and pharmacological changes in small airways that make them ‘diseased’, how these changes relate to inflammatory cell burden in COPD and asthma, and how they can be reversed.
- Understanding of the mechanism of protein transduction domain-mediated protein and siRNA delivery.
The overall aim of the research group is to identify novel targets for therapeutic intervention in COPD and asthma.
Our funding reflects our academic interests and their application to the pharmaceutical industry, with grant money from the National Asthma Campaign, the BBSRC, the Health Protection Agency (Porton Down), GlaxoSmithKline (UK and USA), Novartis, Boehringer Ingelheim (Germany), Scios Inc (USA), and the Clinical Research Committee of Royal Brompton Hospital.
