The research in our laboratory mainly involves the study of procoagulant extracellular vesicles and their impact on cells. Our recent work concerns the vital connection between trauma and inflammation, with repair processes and importantly, how deviations from the otherwise beneficial processes, precipitates in chronic diseases. The emphasis of our work has been the procoagulant extracellular vesicles (EV) which carry the glycoprotein “Tissue factor (TF)” which initiates the blood coagulation. We aim to understand the molecular mechanisms by which these also promote normal repair processes following injury. Additionally, we apply our findings to understand how dysregulated activity of these vesicles contributes to progression of diverse diseases including cardiovascular, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and other diseases.
Modules
Cell Structure & Function
Human Physiology
Indicative project(s)
•A study of responses of various neuronal cells to different amounts of TF, by measuring the alterations in physiological and pathological indicators in neurons.
• Determining the ability of vascular endothelial-derived procoagulant extracellular vesicles (TF-EV) to promote remodelling in vascular smooth muscle cell migration.
• Examination of the influence of TF-EV on the induction of the aggressive/mesenchymal phenotype in aggressive cancers.