10 March 2014
On behalf of everyone at the Malaghan Institute we congratulate Arthritis & Inflammation PhD student Stefanie Steiger on successfully defending her doctoral thesis The role of TGF?1 and macrophage differentiation in MSU crystal-induced inflammation.
The focus of Stefanies PhD research, under the supervision of Dr Jacquie Harper, was the anti-inflammatory molecule TGF?1, which has been shown to play a role during the resolution of an acute gout attack.
During my PhD I investigated different sources of TGF?1 and found that immune cells known as neutrophils clear up dying cells and produce TGF?1, therefore contributing to the shutdown of acute inflammation.
This anti-inflammatory molecule can also affect other immune cells known as macrophages to trigger changes in their inflammatory functions in response to MSU crystals, the causative agent of gout.
Stefanie says that targeting TGF?1 could be beneficial for controlling recurrent acute gout attacks.
You can find out more about the Malaghan Institutes Arthritis & Inflammation research by following the link here.