Request for Funding
Medical Student Research Fellowship for Summer 2011

All descriptions must contain enough detail to permit an assessment of the problem that is to be addressed and the methodologies that are to be employed. Please be careful to outline the role that the student will play in the project that is described. Please ensure that all relevant approval numbers (IRB, IACUC) are provided.

Mentor:                       Kiyoshi Ariizumi      
Department:              Dermatology
Room number:         JA5.130
Mail Code:                 9069
Phone number:        214-648-7552
E-mail:                       Kiyoshi.Ariizumi@utsouthwestern.edu
Project title:               Mechanisms for immune evasion by melanoma

Human subjects IRB approved project number (where applicable):  STU082010-066     

Animal subjects IRB approved project number (where applicable):  0474-07-06-1

Project Type (patient-based research, animal-based research, or basic research; this characterization is only to permit a general classification for grouping similar types of projects)

patient-based and animal-based research.

Brief Description of Project:

Melanoma is among the most lethal of malignancies afflicting mankind.  Host immune responses contribute critically to the success or failure of anti-cancer therapy, and cancer’s own capacity to counteract host immunity is an equally important factor impinging on this dynamic.  Among such cancer-fueled mechanisms, myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) stand out because of their unsurpassed ability to suppress T cell function.  Recently, we discovered DC-HIL receptor to be required for T cell-suppressive function of MDSC isolated from mice bearing melanoma and from patients with metastatic melanoma.  He will characterize mechanisms enabling DC-HIL to mediate the deleterious effects of MDSC using mouse and human MDSC.  His study will demonstrate the pivotal role of DC-HIL in mediating the MDSC function and also make DC-HIL potent targets for improving anti-melanoma immunotherapy. 

Previous Research Activities or Publications with Medical Students:

Syndecan-4 expression by cutaneous T cell lymphoma: with Shinjita Das.