Wellcome Trust Grant awarded to CCIR

The first grant of the CCIR was recently awarded for the project 'An integrative genomic approach for genetic dissection of macrophage activation' led by Dr Jacques Behmoaras.

The first grant of the CCIR was recently awarded for the project 'An integrative genomic approach for genetic dissection of macrophage activation' led by Dr Jacques Behmoaras. Macrophages are potent regulators of the immune response and their infiltration and activation correlate with the severity of kidney injury in crescentic glomerulonephritis (Crgn). Using a rat model of Crgn, Dr Behmoaras and co-workers performed a genetic dissection of the pathophysiology of Crgn showing the importance of macrophage phenotypes encoded by seven loci in the rat genome. They identified two genes associated with susceptibility to Crgn controlling macrophage activation in rats and humans. The awarded project grant now aim to elucidate the genetic determinants of the full spectrum of macrophage activation by combining rat genetics and genomics with cell biology.