Pattern recognition receptors and the recruitment and differentiation of myeloid cells in inflammation.

The main aims of the research are to understand how the immune receptor dectin-1 controls the inflammatory response after fungal infection and to develop new experimental mouse models to facilitate these and related studies of inflammation. At the time of an infection, the body initiates an inflammatory response, the aim of which is to recruit specialised immune cells to the site of infection and contain the infectious organism. The cells express receptors on their surface that are able to recognise distinct components of microorganisms. The collective recognition of multiple microbial components by many cell surface receptors enables the immune cells to ‘identify‘ the infecting organism and promote the development of an appropriate immune response. Dectin-1 is a key receptor involved in the recognition of fungi that binds to fungal specific carbohydrates (beta-glucans). We have shown that this receptor is essential for a normal inflammatory response after fungal infection of mice and that its absence results in increased susceptibility to infection. Fungal infections are important because of their increasing frequency as a consequence of modern medicine and acquired defects in the immune system. These studies will help us understand how a normal protective immune response to fungal infection occurs.