Every day, billions of cells die in the body and must be cleared by macrophages — immune cells that “eat” dead cells in a process called efferocytosis. Efficient clearance resolves inflammation and maintains tissue health, and its failure underpins autoimmunity, neurodegeneration, and atherosclerosis. Yet the molecular machinery coordinating lysosomal dynamics during efferocytosis remains poorly understood. Using state-of-the-art spatial proteomics, we have mapped protein redistribution across organelles as macrophages engulf dead cells, identifying lysosomal proteins that relocate within minutes.
This project will functionally validate prioritised candidates from this dataset, determining how they influence macrophage efferocytic capacity and cargo degradation — with direct relevance to inflammatory and neurodegenerative disease. Students will gain experience in confocal microscopy, flow cytometry, qPCR, and proteomics workflows across mechanistic and translational research.
