Impaired peripheral Natural Killer cell differentiation in defective reactive oxygen species production
Supervisor: Paulo Rodrigues Santos
Imunologia, Centro de Neurociências e Biologia Celular
Rotation Code: PS2
Deficiency in genes of the NADPH oxidase complex - leading to a reduced production of ROS – contribute to development of severe chronic autoimmune diseases (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis, chronic granulomatous disease - CGD), presenting a solid link between low ROS production and chronic inflammation. However, the precise mechanisms underlying impaired resolution in the chronic inflammatory process are still ill defined. Since NK cells are seen as regulators of the inflammatory process, the present work aims at identifying defects in the NK cell compartment caused by the absence of ROS production in human (CGD patients), rat and mouse experimental models.