 |  |  | | | EDINBURGH SCIENTISTS GET TO GRIPS WITH SCAVENGERS | | | | |
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Release Date: 20th April 2004
The role of professional ‘scavenger’ cells in the development of the cancer lymphoma comes under investigation by University of Edinburgh scientists, thanks to a £460,000 boost from Leukaemia Research.
The scavenger cells - called macrophages - are white blood cells in the immune system whose job is to break down and swallow damaged and dead cells or bacteria. In the process they detect the presence of "foreign" markers that are present on tumour cells or cells infected with a virus and use these to help trigger an immune response. Professor Christopher Gregory believes these macrophages have the potential to cause death of tumour cells, but are prevented from doing so by cells that die within the tumour by a form of programmed cell death known as apoptosis.
Tumours, including lymphomas, often contain abundant cells undergoing apoptosis but the tumours continue to grow because the death rate of the malignant cells is outpaced by their uncontrolled growth. Professor Gregory suspects that the macrophages are unable to prevent this growth because the dying tumour cells somehow disable the macrophages’ potential to cause large-scale tumour-cell deletion.
"The aim of our research is to reverse this situation and release the macrophages to kill the growing lymphoma cells,” says Professor Gregory, who is based in the MRC Centre for Inflammation Research. "This would open up new ways to treat this cancer of the blood."
Professor Gregory’s £0.46 million grant is part of a £0.6 million funding package for Edinburgh research teams from the Leukaemia Research. The cash will strengthen the charity’s research presence in the city, and underscores its commitment to beating leukaemia and related blood diseases. The remaining £150,000 has been awarded to Dr Simon Brown and Dr John Davies. Their studies of acute leukaemia cells will guide the development of new approaches to treat this disease.
Dr David Grant, Leukaemia Research Scientific Director, said: “Edinburgh is one of the cornerstones of leukaemia research in Scotland. The quality of research undertaken in the city is world-leading and will have a major impact on the lives of people with cancers of the blood such as leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma.”
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