Grant Supports Immune System, Lymphoma Research

Research being conducted by an Illinois State University professor is helping to shed more light on how cells in the body's immune system repair themselves.  With that knowledge, researchers will have a greater understanding of the early steps leading to lymphoma and other cancers.

The research by Erik Larson, an assistant professor in the School of Biological Sciences, is supported by a $213,750 grant from the National Institutes of Health's National Cancer Institute (NIH/NCI).  Larson is studying the cellular pathways responsible for maintaining and repairing DNA.  Those cellular pathways are critical for proper immunity, but also cause cancer when absent or misregulated.

Larson's research is helping to map out the DNA exchanges in immune system cells and the processes governing normal genomic stability in all cells. The project will  reveal the molecular events necessary for creating responsive antibodies as well as the genetic alterations characteristic of lymphoma.