Hosted by the School of Medicine at Cardiff University

Abstract: The NLRP3 inflammasome is one critical sensor of cell and tissue homeostasis that becomes activated in macrophages in response to pathogen- or tissue-derived danger signals. While beneficial during infections, excessive and uncontrolled NLRP3 activity contributes to the development of several inherited and acquired chronic inflammatory diseases, such as CAPS, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, arthritis and atherosclerosis. Licensing mechanisms therefore must exist that limit unwanted NLRP3 inflammasome responses in healthy people. In this talk, we will discuss two such mechanisms, one that naturally terminates inflammasome activity, and another that puts a brake on premature activation of NLRP3 pathway.

Biography: Dr. Bezbradica Mirkovic earned her Ph.D. degree at Vanderbilt University, USA. She continued her research training as a Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation and Howard Hughes Medical Institute postdoctoral fellow at Yale University, USA, and at The University of Queensland, Australia. She joined the Kennedy Institute in 2016 as MRC New Investigator and Research Fellow of the Kennedy Trust for Rheumatology Research. 

Main research goal in her laboratory is to elucidate mechanisms that control the initiation of inflammatory responses. They study innate sensing and signalling in myeloid cells, particularly macrophages. Major research objectives: 1. How macrophages initiate an inflammatory response? 2. How is inflammatory signalling deactivated in macrophages? 

• Join via Zoom: https://cardiff.zoom.us/j/88982390402?pwd=bFd1RWdMN1M0Vmg1RDVQRm1pdVBSdz09
• Meeting ID: 889 8239 0402
• Password: 795118