Cell Death and Immunity

In an average human adult billions of cells die each day to counter mitosis. Cellular death also occurs under pathological conditions such as infection or in response to cytotoxic therapy of cancer. It is increasingly evident that dying cells actively coordinate the fade of the affected tissue by emitting a plethora of different inflammatory mediators. Based on the nature of cellular death process these provoke beneficial or detrimental immune actions and ultimately culminate in tissue repair/regeneration or collateral and irreversible tissue damage. Not surprisingly, the molecular link between cellular death and inflammatory signaling is currently considered as a fundamental process governing tissue functionality and represents the central objective of our research group.