On November 5, 2010, Assistant Professor of Biology Dr. Kristian Hargadon ’01 and junior biology major Osric Forrest ’12 presented their recent collaborative research at Lynchburg College at the VA Branch State Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. Dr. Hargadon delivered an oral presentation, and Osric Forrest presented a poster, on their work evaluating the influence of tumor cells on the activation of dendritic cells, a cell type critical for functional immune responses. Dr. Hargadon and Mr. Forrest’s research has established that a dendritic cell line known as DC2.4 serves as an effective in vitro model for studying dendritic cell activation. Recent data has also shown that melanoma-derived factors can suppress the activation of these dendritic cells, suggesting a possible link between tumor immunosuppression and tumor outgrowth. Dr. Hargadon is currently collaborating with Mr. Forrest and other H-SC students to continue this line of research in order to better understand the immunosuppressive effect of tumors on dendritic cells and the mechanism by which this immunosuppression occurs. These findings may offer insights into novel immunotherapeutic strategies designed to improve anti-tumor immune responses.
Biology Department
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