Research
My research is concerned with exploring the effects of inflammatory pathways on the development of heart disease. I am particularly interested in a protein called Interleukin-1 Alpha (IL-1α), a powerful inflammatory mediator that activates immunity and is responsible for widespread blood vessel inflammation in many different vascular diseases including strokes and heart attacks. My work has identified that thrombin, the key enzyme responsible for blood clotting, can activate IL-1α and induce inflammation as blood clots are formed during thrombotic disease.
Publications
Platelet isolation and activation assays. Burzynski LC, Pugh N, Clarke MCH. Bio-protocol. 2019; 9, e3405.
Death is coming and the clot thickens, as pyroptosis feeds the fire. Burzynski LC, Clarke MCH. Immunity. 2019; 50, 1339-1341.
The coagulation and immune system are directly linked through the activation of interleukin-1α by thrombin. Burzynski LC, Humphry M, Pyrillou K, Wiggins KA, Chan JNE, Figg N, Kitt LL, Summers C, Tatham KC, Martin PB, Bennett MR, Clarke MCH. Immunity. 2019; 50, 1033–1042.
Burzynski LC, Humphry M, Bennett MR, Clarke MCH. Interleukin-1α activity in necrotic endothelial cells is controlled by caspase-1 cleavage of interleukin-1 receptor-2; implications for allograft rejection. J Biol Chem. 2015; 290: 25188-96.
