ProfAnnie Curtis

The Curtis laboratory seeks to understand the fundamental cellular mechanisms by which the molecular clock governs innate immunity and inflammation. We have a particular interest in how clock controlled mitochondrial metabolism impacts innate immune function.The dominance of the molecular clock in controlling all aspects of our physiology is gathering acceptance. The molecular clock drives 24-hour rhythms (termed circadian rhythms) in cellular function and physiology and 43% of all protein coding genes showed circadian rhythms in transcription somewhere in the body. It is now clear that the molecular clock and time-of-day exerts profound effects on innate immunity. Functioning autonomous clocks have been identified in innate immune cells such as macrophages, dendritic and natural killer (NK) cells impacting on inflammation, sepsis, viral infection, NK cytolytic activity, neurodegeneration and even the efficacy of vaccines. Daily variations in inflammatory episodes, such as asthmatic exacerbations, arthritis joint pain, and cardiovascular disease infer further the significance of the circadian clock on immune function. Circadian disruption, as imposed by shift work, augments the inflammatory response and increases susceptibility to many of these inflammatory conditions.Understanding the mechanisms by which the clock controls innate immunity has implications for not only how we treat but also the time-of-day we target inflammatory conditions.