Dr Kalia’s research is focussed on identifying the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury, particularly the contributory role of platelets. Furthermore, she is also determining strategies, particularly the use of adult bone marrow derived stem cells, that may be of therapeutic benefit following I/R injury. Hematopoietic and (HSC) mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) can migrate to injured tissues and help in tissue repair. However, the events that govern their recruitment to injured tissue microcirculation and mechanisms that can enhance their recruitment are unclear. Therefore, her research focuses on examining the molecular adhesive events involved in HSC/MSC recruitment to different vascular beds following injury, including the liver, gut, kidney and muscle. Inflammatory and stem cell trafficking is monitored predominantly by state-of-the-art confocal based intravital microscopy which allows real-time and dynamic microcirculatory images to be captured in vivo. This technique allows numerous microcirculatory disturbances to be quantitated including the various events of the adhesion cascade (rolling/adhesion/transmigration) and also changes in vascular integrity.
Kavanagh DPJ, Kalia N. Factors determining Stem Cell Homing to Injured Sites. Stem Cell Reviews (in press).
Kavanagh DPJ, Kalia N. ‘Stem Cell Homing to Injured Organs’, for a book entitled ‘From Vascular Cell Biology to Cardiovascular Medicine" to be published by Research Signpost / Transworld Research Network, Editors : Adriana Georgescu and Felicia Antohe. (2011) BOOK CHAPTER (in press).
Kuckleburg CJ, Yates C, Kalia N, Zhao Y, Nash GB, Watson SP, Rainger GE. Endothelial cell borne platelet bridges selectively recruit monocytes in human and mouse models of vascular inflammation (2011) Cardiovasc Res (in press).
Kavanagh DPJ, Durant LE, Crosby HA, Lalor PF, Frampton J, Adams DH, Kalia N. Haematopoietic stem cell recruitment to the hepatic microcirculation following murine ischemia-reperfusion injury is dependent on an a4b1 integrin interaction (2010). Gut 59:79-87.
Sadej R, Romanska H, Kavanagh DPJ, Takahashi T, Kalia N, BerditchevskiF. Tetraspanin CD151 regulates TGF beta signaling: implication in tumour metastasis (2010). Cancer Research 70(14):6059-70.
Senis YA, Tomlinson MG, Ellison S, Mazharian A, Lim J, Zhao Y, Kornerup KN, Auger JM, Thomas SG, Dhanjal T, Kalia N, Zhu JW, Weiss A, Watson SP (2009) The tyrosine phosphatase CD148 is an essential positive regulator of platelet activation and thrombosis. Blood 113:4942-54.
Ross EA, Freeman S, Zhao Y, Dhanjal TS, Ross EJ, Lax S, Ahmed Z, Hou TZ, Kalia N, Egginton S, Nash G, Watson SP, Frampton J, Buckley CD. (2008) A novel role for PECAM-1 (CD31) in regulating haematopoietic progenitor cell compartmentalization between the peripheral blood and bone marrow. PLOS One 4;3(6):e2338.
Kalia N, Auger J, Atkinson B, Watson SP. (2008) Role of FcR g-chain, LAT and PLCg2 in thrombus formation upon mild, laser-induced endothelial injury in vivo (2008). Microcirculation 15:325-335.