Exploring the biology of the immunoregulatory molecules Ym1 and Ym2 in wild mice

Regulation of inflammation and efficient tissue repair are essential to prevent chronic inflammation and maintain tissue health. Over recent years macrophage activation has emerged as a fundamental process in tissue homeostasis, essential to both driving inflammation and resolving inflammation post injury or insult. However, because of the enormous heterogeneity of macrophages, we still lack a basic understanding of how they regulate inflammation. This is essential if we are to develop targeted therapies to resolve chronic inflammation. Chitinase like proteins are molecules strongly associated with inflammatory disease in all mammals. While often elevated during inflammation, existing data suggest they have important roles in regulating inflammation and aiding in tissue repair. Chitinase-like proteins are found in a variety of cell types particularly macrophages, and are often used to indicate a more regulatory state of macrophage activation (alternative-activation). In mice the chitinase like proteins, Ym1 & Ym2, have multifaceted roles in lung inflammation, parasite infection and the central nervous system. Building on the data sets which begin to define the immunoregulatory properties of Ym1 using highly controlled laboratory mouse systems, the current project will explore the biology of Ym1 in a wild mouse population. Novel insights in to the role of YM1 and CLPs in general will help us understand function in the pathogenesis of various diseases.