Molecular and Cellular Biology of Phagocytosis

An introduction to phagocytosis.- A Brief History of Phagocytosis.- The role of membrane surface charge in phagocytosis.- Receptor models of phagocytosis: the effect of target shape.- Decision Making in Phagocytosis.- Membrane tension and the role of ezrin during phagocytosis.- Molecular mechanisms of calcium signaling during phagocytosis.- Calpain activation by Ca2+ and its role in phagocytosis.- The NADPH oxidase and the phagosome.- Conclusions and the future of phagocytosis.-

Maurice B. Hallett, Ph.D., FRMS is Professor of Experimental Cell Biology and Director of Postgraduate Research Studies at Cardiff University School of Medicine, UK. After obtaining degrees in Pharmacology from University College London, Maurice joined the Medical School in Cardiff, UK to establish a research group that is focused on the mechanisms which underlie the behaviour of human blood phagocytes, especially neutrophils. The work of this group is aimed at establishing novel therapeutic approaches to the treatment of inflammatory diseases by gaining insights into the mechanisms by which phagocytes capture and kill infecting microbes. This group, funded by the Medical Research Council (UK), the Wellcome Trust, the British Heart Foundation and other organizations, has established a number of novel ways of studying the behaviour of human phagocytes at the level of individual cells. These have involved the development of new micro-manipulation and sub-cellular imaging techniques. Maurice has published over 150 full research papers in cell biological and immunological journals, authored many invited book chapters, has written two books on neutrophil cell biology and holds patents for inventions relating to cell engineering.
He also has an interest in the emergence of unpredictability in small systems and the ways in which this is overcome in living cells as he discussed in Is Life based on Clockwork Biology or the uncertainty of quantum physics? in Perspectives in Biology and Medicine. Details of all recent publications and patents can be found on the Neutrophil Signalling Group web site.
He is a member of the Institute of Biology (UK) and the Biochemical Society (UK), he is a fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society, and serves on their Cell Biology Committee.