# PROCESSES OF DIFFERENTIATION IN MONONUCLEAR PHAGOCYTES

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR · 1989 · $101,651

## Abstract

Mononuclear phagocytes differentiate in the marrow and then
pass via the blood stream to the tissues and become resident
macrophages.  In response to the tissue injury and inflammation,
young mononuclear phagocytes pour into the affected area and in
response to regulatory molecules, produced by lymphocytes or to
factors derived from bacteria, undergo profound alterations in
many functions.  These changes in functions are vital to host
defenses against tumors and microbes but can also produce
massive tissue damage and destruction.  A clear understanding of
the physiology of macrophage development and differentiation is
thus important.

We plan to undertake a combined immunochemical and
enzymological approach to study the significance of induction of
an intracellular protein cross-linking enzyme, tissue
transglutaminase in differentiation processes of the cells of
monocytic lineage.  The significance of tissue transglutaminase
induction and its role in; a) differentiation process of monocytes
and monocytic leukemia cells (THP-1) to mature macrophages, b)
in acquisition of tumoricidal/microbicidal functions by monocyte
and macrophages, and c) in functions such as, the ability of
activated macrophages/monocytes to recognize the tumor cells
and their ability to participate in antibody-dependent cell
mediated cytotoxic reactions will be studied.  The role of
exogenous/endogenous retinoids in modulation of these functions
will be studied.  The role of endogenous retinoids in the
differentiation process of mononuclear phagocytes will also be
investigated by studying the expression of cell surface receptors
for serum retinol-binding protein during different stages of
development.  The results obtained may be of considerable
intellectual interest in terms of understanding the macrophage
biology.  In addition it might suggest approaches for increasing
the macrophage tumoricidal and anti-infective activity in cancer
and other immunocompromised patients, without an undesirable
increase in macrophage/inflammatory activity or in auto-immune
response.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3176998
- **Project number:** 5R01CA038751-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR
- **SAM.gov UEI:** S3GMKS8ELA16
- **Principal Investigator:** KAPIL MEHTA
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1989
- **Award amount:** $101,651
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1987-01-01 → 1990-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3176998

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3176998, PROCESSES OF DIFFERENTIATION IN MONONUCLEAR PHAGOCYTES (5R01CA038751-03). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3176998. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*