15 April 2008

£2.3 million for immune system research at Dundee

Scientists at the University of Dundee have been awarded a grant of £2.3million by the Medical Research Council to further research into how our immune system works and how it can be better controlled to fight disease.

The award from the MRC will fund the work of Professor Colin Watts and his team, based in the College of Life Sciences, for the next five years.

"We are delighted at the support the Medical Research Council continue to give us," said Professor Watts.

"This substantial award will boost our ongoing efforts to understand how our immune system works at a fundamental level and how we might get more control over it for human health benefit."

The work of Professor Watts and his team is focused on a key group of cells known as ‘dendritic cells’, which act as messengers in the body, migrating long distances from our body tissues to raise the alarm if an infection has occurred.

Other cells called lymphocytes then make the appropriate immune response using the information that dendritic cells provide them with.

"This is an area which ourselves and other labs around the world are examining in great detail, and the strong feeling among most immunologists is that better understanding of how dendritic cells work will help in the design of vaccines which are more effective at triggering the right type of immune response," said Professor Watts.

"Vaccines of the future could have additional inbuilt features that target them to dendritic cells to trigger the biochemical changes needed to direct a particular immune response and to induce dendritic cells to migrate to their rendez-vous with lymphocytes. Better immune responses might then be generated against both infectious agents and also perhaps against a disease such as cancer."

"Progress in this area requires that we delve deeper into the biology of these remarkable cells and that is what this new grant will enable us to do. We plan to examine in detail how dendritic cells respond to bacterial and viral products and how their migration through body tissues is regulated."

"The award is a great tribute to the outstanding colleagues who work with me, particularly Michele West and Rossana Zaru, and will benefit not only our laboratory but also, through the new Research Council funding arrangements, the wider College of Life Sciences here in Dundee which provides such a dynamic and collaborative atmosphere for basic research".

NOTES TO EDITORS

Images of dendritic cells are available from the University Press Office.

The Medical Research Council supports the best scientific research to improve human health. Its work ranges from molecular level science to public health medicine and has led to pioneering discoveries in our understanding of the human body and the diseases which affect us all. www.mrc.ac.uk.

The University of Dundee has powered its way to an internationally recognised position of excellence in life sciences and medical research with particular expertise in cancer, diabetes and tropical diseases. The University has both a 5* rated medical school and College of Life Sciences, with research expanding from "the cell to the clinic to the community", and has a larger medical research complex than the National Institute for Medical Research in London. The University has an excellent track record in attracting research income and commercialising research activity. See www.dundee.ac.uk for further details.

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