THE CMRF-35 FAMILY OF MOLECULES: GENE STRUCTURE, EXPRESSION AND FUNCTION

Funded Activity Summary

White blood cells are the army which fights invasion by foreign organisms or cancer cells. Their main artillery and communication systems are located on the cell surface as protein molecules. These recognize foreign material and danger signals, and signal into the cell to direct interactions with other cells- soluble molecules in the immune system. We have discovered a new group of molecules called the CMRF-35 family which are found on the surface of different white blood cells. We have characterized two members of the CMRF-35 family by studying the structure of their genes and the cells which express them. These studies will determine if the known CMRF-35 molecules are able to send signals from the cell surface into the cell to activate or inhibit a functional response by cells that express them. We hope to identify the triggers that initiate a signal from CMRF-35 molecules into the cell and whether there are molecules which bind CMRF-35 molecules and then get moved from the surface to inside the cell. Our data suggests that there are other unknown members of this family. We will determine how many members there are in this family by studying the DNA of genes that are related to the known CMRF-35 molecules. This will allow us to charactertize novel molecules that may be important for white cell function. Discovering new white cell surface molecules and determining their function increases our understanding of how the immune response works. If these CMRF-35 molecules represent a large family, it is highly likely that they have important roles in the immune response. By understanding the signals these molecules send to the cell nucleus we may be able to exploit their function to fight disease. For example where the immune system has not recognized cancer cells as dangerous, we might use the activating CMRF-35 molecules to stimulate a response. In the case of auto-immunity we may be able to reduce the responses via inhibitory CMRF-35 molecules.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2000

End Date: 01-01-2002

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $367,669.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Clinimetrics

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

There are no SEO codes available for this funding activity

Other Keywords

Allergy and Immunology | Autoimmune disease | Fc receptors | Gene expression | Ig superfamily | IgM binding molecules | Leucocyte membrane molecules | Leukaemia/Lymphoma | Transplantation | Tumour immunotherapy

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