Professor Doreen Cantrell
CBE FRS FRSE FMedSci
Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow
Cell Signalling and Immunology, School of Life Sciences
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Contact
Research
Analysis of signal transduction pathways that control T lymphocyte metabolism, migration and differentiation
The laboratory explores how antigen receptors and cytokines control the development and immune activation of T lymphocytes; key cells in the adaptive immune system. The strategy is to rigorously interrogate T cell biology at the fundamental level of biochemical signal transduction. The integration of mouse molecular genetics, cell biology and microscopy is then used to define the contribution of a particular biochemical pathway to T cell activation. This work has defined how thymocytes and T lymphocytes use networks of guanine nucleotide binding proteins and serine kinases to interpret information from antigens and cytokines to make appropriate responses that control T cell development and peripheral T cell function. The laboratory has made considerable progress mapping serine/threonine kinase mediated signaling pathways in thymocytes and peripheral T cells and has identified essential regulators of T cell metabolism, cytotoxic T cell effector function and CD8 T cell migration/trafficking.
The future research program will adopt a multidisciplinary approach and combine biochemistry, cell biology and in vivo mouse immunology to explore the how protein phosphorylation controls T cell function. A key focus is the regulation of the metabolism of normal and malignant lymphocytes. One important component of the work is a discovery based program to use high resolution mass spectrometry to systematically define the phosphoproteome of naïve and effector CD4 and CD8 T lymphocyte subpopulations. Phosphoproteomic analysis of cytotoxic T cells has already identified links between serine/threonine kinases and chromatin regulators; the future program will address how phosphorylation of these chromatin regulators controls CTL transcriptional programs and explore the role of key cytokines on the CD8 T cell phosphoproteome. This work will generate a molecular understanding of how signal transduction pathways control T cell function. In particular, the studies will provide new insights about pharmacological strategies that might manipulate immune responses to ensure effective vaccination and/or restrain the T cell pathology caused by effector T cells.
Awards
Award | Year |
---|---|
National Sciences Prizes awarded since 1990 / The Royal Society of Edinburgh Sir James Black Medal | 2024 |
International Science Prizes awarded since 1990 / Feldberg Prize - British Recipient | 2023 |
PiCLS Best Mentor Award | 2022 |
National Sciences Prizes awarded since 1990 / Lifetime Honorary Membership of the British Society for Immunology | 2019 |
Personal Fellowships / Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellowship | 2017 |
National Sciences Prizes awarded since 1990 / Novartis Medal and Prize of the Biochemical Society | 2017 |
Commander of the British Empire (CBE) | 2014 |
Personal Fellowships / Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellowship | 2012 |
Fellow of the Royal Society | 2011 |
Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh | 2005 |
Member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation | 2000 |
Stories
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Press release
Outstanding scientific research at the University of Dundee has been honoured by Scotland’s national academy
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News
Doreen Cantrell has been named the British recipient of the Feldberg Prize 2023 from the Feldberg Foundation.
News
Review of the Year 2021/2 took place last week with the Dean, Julian Blow sharing the highlights of activity within the School from 2022.