University of Health Sciences (UHS) Lahore has arranged a series of research seminars and lectures by eminent scholars. Dr Shabbir Hussain from Robert Research Institute, London delivered a lecture on 'Role of B Cells in Autoimmune Diabetes'.
He said that although the role of B Cells that produced auto antibodies in the pathogenesis of human type I diabetes mellitus was largely unknown, in the non-obese diabetic mouse model of autoimmune diabetes, it has been shown that B Cells might contribute multi-fariously to the pathogenesis of the disease.
In his lecture on 'Sphingosine Kinase 2-A Nuclear Protein', Dr Saleem Jahangir of Kobe University, Japan, said that Sphingosine Kinase (SPHK) is an important enzyme in the sphingolipid metabolic pathway. To date, two isoforms of SPHK, SPHK 1 and SPHK 2, have been identified and characterised from mammalian cells.
Sphingosine Kinases have been implicated in a diverse range of cellular processes, including cell proliferation, apoptosis, calcium homeostasis, angiogenesis, and vascular maturation. Thus SPHKs are potential therapeutic targets for the control of cancer, inflammation, and other diseases. Dr Saleem will deliver his second lecture today (on Wednesday). The topic is "A few years in the laboratory of a Nobel prize winner".