FURI | Spring 2020
Discovering Factors That Drive the Migration of Immune Cells Into Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma Tumors
![Health icon, disabled. A red heart with a cardiac rhythm running through it.](https://stg-furi.fsewp.asu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/FURI-Research-icons-HEALTH.png)
The goal of this research was to map the network of interactions influencing immune cell migration. A series of filters were applied to a transcriptional regulatory network to prioritize a list of chemokines, cytokines, and immunomodulatory genes associated with increased infiltration of immune cells related to patient survival. The chemokine IL-18 was identified as a factor influencing natural killer cell infiltration into malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). Currently experimentally determining if patient-derived MPM cell lines express IL-18, and developing a Boyden chamber assay to determine if IL-18 induces chemotaxis and tissue invasion.
Student researcher
![Gabrielle Wipper](https://stg-furi.fsewp.asu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/20190917_172910-e1573063318810-793x1024.jpg)
Gabrielle Wipper
Biomedical engineering
Hometown: Germantown, Tennessee, United States
Graduation date: Spring 2020