New insights into NLRP3 within inflammatory disease

Inflammation is our bodies' response to infection and injury. Characterised by redness, swelling, and heat, an inflammatory response involves the movement of cells from the bloodstream to an infected or injured tissue or organ. Typically inflammation is a beneficial response. However, a failure to switch off an inflammatory response, or for it to clear away fully (or resolve), can lead to chronic or inappropriate inflammation. This can result in the death of healthy cells and tissue. As we get older the bodies' control of how it regulates inflammation starts to decline. During disease our control of inflammation is also compromised. When inflammation is not regulated appropriately it starts to become a cause of disease, or makes disease outcomes worse. Thus we need to understand the mechanisms regulating inflammation, and then we need to develop ways of blocking it during disease. By combining the expertise of scientists from different fields I aim to make a leap forward in how we understand a particularly damaging inflammatory response. Working with experts on cell function and biology I will conduct a programme of research that aims to understand a) how damaging inflammation is switched on, and b) how damaging inflammation can be switched off. Only through an improved understanding of these processes can we then target inflammation in disease effectively.