Karl-Johan Malmberg awarded FRIPRO Toppforsk grant
The Norwegian government is aiming for long-term efforts to build research communities on the highest level. In total 24 Norwegian projects, all disciplines included, receive between 15 and 25 mill NOK. The grants are aimed at research communities that have the potential to become international leaders within their fields.
Two of the 24 selected projects are led by group leaders at the Institute for Cancer Research. The other is Tor Erik Rusten from the Department of Molecular Cell Biology.
Summary of the "Programming natural killer cell function through the organelle communication" project:
A central biological process underlying the ability of natural killer (NK) cells to kill target cells is their calibration against self-MHC in a process referred to as NK cell education. However, the cellular and molecular mechanism that connects inhibitory signalling during education to the “storage” of functional potential remains a key knowledge gap. In the project funded by RCN Toppforsk, Goodridge and Malmberg has teamed up with Prof. William Louch at the Institute for Experimental Medical Research, Oslo University Hospital Ullevål, to test the hypothesis that intracellular communication between organelles is a central element of NK cell education. The aim is to delineate the genetic and biochemical pathways that regulate the formation and fate of dense-core secretory granules in NK cells and explore the utility of the secretory granule as a programmable signalling hub in lymphocytes. By deciphering the biochemical and genetic pathways that tune the intrinsic functional potential in NK cells, the outlined research holds promise for the development of new treatment alternatives based on modulation of lymphocyte function in cancer and autoimmunity.
Links
News article from the home page of The Research Council of Norway:
24 nye FRIPRO Toppforsk-prosjekter deler en halv milliard
(translated to: 24 new FRIPRO Top Research projects share half a billion)
Home page of the Natural Killer Cell Biology and Cell Therapy Group, headed by Karl-Johan Malmberg
Department of Cancer Immunology