Posted on 17 March 2019
Researchers Dr James Hewitson, Professor Paul Kaye and Dr Dimitris Lagos have recently published in EMBO Reports. The researchers work within YBRI’s Immunology, Haematology and Infection theme.
Their report shows that CD4+ T cells express high levels of miR‐132 and that T cell activation leads to miR‐132 up‐regulation.
The transcriptomic hallmark of splenic CD4+ T cells lacking the miR‐132/212 cluster during chronic infection is an increase in mRNA levels of ribosomal protein (RP) genes. Their results show that miR‐132/212‐mediated regulation of RP expression is critical for optimal CD4+ T cell activation and protective immunity against pathogens.
Professor Jenny Southgate, Molecular and Cellular Medicine theme lead, has recently published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences .
The article shows that human urothelium displays a highly inductive profile of metallothionein-1 (MT-1) gene expression, with two isoforms identified as highly specific to cadmium, providing candidate transcript and long-lived protein biomarkers of cadmium exposure.