Sigma Xi Seminar: How the Lung Clears Inhaled Silica Dust

Although exposure to silica dust can be followed by silicosis and lung cancer, natural lifelong exposure to silica dust can also be benign. The difference in outcome remains unexplained but may be related to whether the lung is able to clear the particles or not, a process not well understood for the smallest of the dust particles (nanoparticles). Using electron microscopy and super-resolution light microscopy, we have observed that the epithelial cells that line the lung vigorously bind and then transport agglomerates of nanoparticles across the cell layer (transcytosis). The particles are then transported away in the blood stream. We now want to apply this knowledge to see what makes this healthy function go off the rails for the particles that cause cancer or silicosis. This Seminar is sponsored by Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society – Members and Non-members welcome.
Location:
Biological Sciences Room 211
Speaker:
Professor Matthias Amrein from the Departments of Cell Biology and Anatomy/ Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, University of Calgary
More information at http://www.ucalgary.ca/events/calendar/sigma-xi-seminar-how-lung-clears-inhaled-silica-dust