Transcriptional Regulation of hemopoiesis and dendritic cell development
This study is focused on the functions of several transcription factors (TF) important in blood cell development, particularly in the development of dendritic cells (DC), including PU.1 and ICSBP (IRF8). The aims of our studies are to reveal the roles these TFs play in controlling normal haemopoiesis and DC development, for example by regulating the differentiation of multipotent stem cells to committed precursors and mature cell types. Conditional gene targeted alleles of these TFs have been generated. This study will analyse the effects of the mutations of these genes at cellular and molecular levels on the development of DC using cellular and molecular biology techniques, including flow cytometric analysis, progenitor transfer assays, cell cultures for DC generation, retrovirus-transduction assays, Real-time PCR and microarrays.