"For me, I couldn't imagine doing anything else. I love my work.
It's fun, interesting and intellectually challenging every day, to
think it through. It's real." - Klaus Ley, M.D.
Klaus Ley, M.D., and his team study inflammation a defense reaction caused by tissue damage or injury, characterized by redness, heat, swelling, and pain. The primary objective of inflammation is to localize and eradicate the irritant and repair the surrounding tissue. For the survival of the host, inflammation is a necessary and beneficial process. The inflammatory response involves three major stages: first, dilation of capillaries to increase blood flow; second, microvascular structural changes and escape of plasma proteins from the bloodstream; and third, leukocyte transmigration through endothelium and accumulation at the site of injury.
The leukocyte adhesion cascade is a sequence of adhesion and activation events that ends with extravasation of the leukocyte, whereby the cell exerts its effects on the inflamed site. At least five steps of the adhesion cascade are capture, rolling, slow rolling, firm adhesion, and transmigration. Each of these five steps appears to be necessary for effective leukocyte recruitment, because blocking any of the five can severely reduce leukocyte accumulation in the tissue. These steps are not phases of inflammation, but represent the sequence of events from the perspective of each leukocyte. At any given moment, capture, rolling, slow rolling, firm adhesion and transmigration all happen in parallel, involving different leukocytes in the same microvessels.
The roles of adhesion molecules in acute and chronic inflammation have been investigated using in vitro model systems and in vivo microcirculation studies. The ultimate goal of inflammation research is to develop methods to control inflammation by modulating or blocking leukocyte adhesion to the endothelium. These ideas developed by basic research contribute to contemporary research projects developing anti-inflammatory drugs. Anti-inflammatory agents function as blockers, suppressors, or modulators of the inflammatory response.
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- Klaus Ley, M.D.
studies the underlying factors that contribute to the disease
atherosclerosis, and more specifically the chronic inflammatory
response. His research has uncovered the role of leukocytes (cells of
the immune system), and specifically the role of adhesion molecules, in
the formation of these arterial plaques. Coronary artery disease,
commonly referred to as coronary heart disease, atherosclerosis or
ischaemic heart disease, is the result of plaques that form in the
major arteries supplying blood to the heart.
Dr. Klaus Ley is studying the immune response that happens as a result of the inflammation caused by the lung injury. The first hours of the inflammation determine the progression and ultimate outcome of the disease. Dr. Ley is working on the role of selectins in inhibiting the inflammatory response in the beginning stages, thus reducing the degree of disease infiltration. “You can get away with blocking the inflammation for a few hours, which may be enough to intervene and maintain oxygen flow,” said Ley.