New ARRA-funded research on white blood cell functioning

LifespanSep 2 2009

Study of white blood cell response has future implications for cancer and injury treatment

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) has provided funding for new research to learn more about how white blood cells work. Jonathan Reichner, PhD, of the department of surgery at Rhode Island Hospital has received a grant from the National Institutes of Health with funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Reichner's hope is that the research will lead to new immune-enhancing therapies, with potential implications for improvements in both cancer treatment and controlling inflammation accompanying injury and infection.

Reichner, who is also an associate professor of surgery at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, says, "We are trying to better understand how white blood cells in the circulation system can sense that an injury such as a wound or infection has taken place. Within minutes, the cells navigate to the exact location of the problem, where they can begin the healing process." Reichner continues, "We would like to figure out how white blood cells acquire this sense of direction, and perhaps improve upon it to design new types of therapies."

The ARRA grant will also allow Reichner to begin a partnership with Art Salomon, PhD, also an assistant professor at Brown, who specializes in deciphering which set of proteins the cells use to react to their environment. In the case of white blood cells, it is to determine which proteins allow them to respond to an injury, obtained through the latest techniques in bioinformatics and biochemistry. This new partnership is just one addition to the many collaborations currently underway among scientists at the various academic and medical institutes in Rhode Island.

"This is a good example of how Recovery Act funds are accelerating the pace of research, in this case by enabling a multi-disciplinary collaboration that removes a roadblock to progress in an important area," said Jeremy M. Berg, PhD, director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. "By capitalizing on his collaborator's proteomic approach, Dr. Reichner could quickly generate new insights about how white blood cells respond to infection and injury, possibly leading to new strategies for developing immune-enhancing therapeutics."

The funding will also allow Reichner and Salomon to create a job opportunity for the study. Kebing Yu, PhD, a recent graduate from Brown, will join the research team. Reichner comments, "The ARRA funding is not only helping us to accelerate our research, but overall, it has a positive impact on the economy in Rhode Island as we continue to grow the research sector and establish new job opportunities." He adds, "We appreciate this funding from the ARRA and the NIH, who saw the value of our research and its potential implications."