Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 8-19-2014 12:00 AM Elucidating the Signalling Pathway of Mer Tyrosine Kinase Receptor in Efferocytosis Ekenedelichukwu Azu The University of Western Ontario Supervisor Dr. Bryan Heit The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in Microbiology and Immunology A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Master of Science © Ekenedelichukwu Azu 2014 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the Cell Biology Commons, Immunity Commons, Molecular Biology Commons, and the Other Immunology and Infectious Disease Commons Recommended Citation Azu, Ekenedelichukwu, "Elucidating the Signalling Pathway of Mer Tyrosine Kinase Receptor in Efferocytosis" (2014). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 2260. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/2260 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. ELUCIDATING THE SIGNALLING PATHWAY OF MER TYROSINE KINASE RECEPTOR IN EFFEROCYTOSIS Thesis format: Monograph by Ekenedelichukwu Azu Graduate Program in Microbiology and Immunology A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies The University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada © Ekenedelichukwu Azu 2014 Abstract Efferocytosis is the clearance of apoptotic cells and is necessary for homeostasis. Mer Tyrosine Kinase (MerTK) is a crucial efferocytic receptor whose loss is associated with chronic inflammatory diseases and autoimmunity. While previous studies have shown that MerTK mediates efferocytosis through a unique mechanism that requires integrins, MerTK signalling pathway remains unknown.