The laboratory of Cytokine Biology Prof Ron Apte

The laboratory of Cytokine Biology, Prof. Ron Apte and Dr. Elena Voronov, The Shraga Segal Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Genetics, Faculty of Health Sciences 08 -6477270 rapte@bgu. ac. il

Major scientific projects of the laboratory include: • • • 1). Biology of members of the Interleukin-1 (IL-1) family in health and disease. We focus on models of bowel inflammatory disease, myocardial infarction and others. 2). The role of inflammation in the malignant process (carcinogenesis, tumor invasion and metastasis, tumor angiogenesis and interactions of the tumor with the host’s immune system). This also includes studies on cancer stem cells, also called cancer initiating stem cells. 3). The effects of inflammation on the biology of embryonic stem cells (Together with Dr. Rivka Ofir). 4). IL-1 neutralization as an anti-cancer approach, targeting the tumor microenvironment. Techniques used in the laboratory include in vivo animal work, tissue culture and in vitro work, molecular biology techniques and in vivo work. These are applied to cutting-edge issues in cytokine and tumor immunobiology, stem cell biology and angiogenesis.

The tumor microenvironment MDSC TAM CAF Blood vessels Bone marrow cells Cancer cells in primary tumours are surrounded by a complex microenvironment comprising numerous cells including endothelial cells, stromal fibroblasts and a variety of bone marrow-derived cells (BMDCs) including macrophages, myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), TIE 2 -expressing monocytes (TEMs) and mesenchymal ). stem cells (MSCs

Experimental system: The Matrigel plug assay Tumor cells injection Extraction of Matrigel plugs Immunostaining FACS analysis Cytokines

The angiogenic response in Matrigel plugs