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 Department of Immunology |
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E1040 Thomas E. Starzl Biomedical Science Tower Phone: 412-383-9737 Fax: 412-383-8098 |
| Faculty | |
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Sarah Gaffen
, Ph.D.
Professor of Medicine S703 BST South Pittsburgh, PA 15261 Phone: 412-383-8903 Email: sig65@pitt.edu Fax: 412-383-8864 Faculty Research Interests Personal Web Page |
| Research Interests | |
| T cell derived cytokines are critical for mediating host defense against infectious disease, but they also mediate disease pathology in autoimmunity. In the last few years a new type of CD4+ T cells has been discovered that plays a key role in autoimmunity. Distinct from the classic Th1 and Th2 populations, these cells are termed "Th17" based on production of the signature effector cytokine IL-17. IL-17 and its receptor are unique in structure and sequence from other known cytokines, and the Gaffen lab was among the first to study signaling mechanisms mediated by this this novel family of cytokines. Our group takes a variety of biochemical, molecular and in vivo approaches to defining IL-17-mediated signaling, with an emphasis on defining its biological function in the oral mucosa and in autoimmune disease. | |
| Academic Affiliation | |
| Division of Rheumatology & Clinical Immunology University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine |
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| Selected Publications | |
| Conti HR, Baker O, Freeman AF, Holland SM, Jang WS, Li RA, Edgerton M, Gaffen SL. New mechanism of oral immunity to mucosal candidiasis in Hyper-IgE syndrome. Mucosal Immunol, 2011; in press Pandiyan P, Conti HR, Zheng L, Peterson AC, Mathern D, Hernández-Santos N, Edgerton M, Gaffen SL, Lenardo MJ. CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells promote Th17 cells in vitro and enhance host resistance in mouse Candida albicans Th17 infection model. Immunity, 2011; in press Maitra A, Shen F, Hanel W, Mossman K, Tocker J, Swart D, Gaffen SL. Distinct functional motifs within the IL-17 receptor regulate signal transduction and target gene expression. PNAS 2007; 104:7506 Kramer JM, Hanel W, Isik N, Malone J, Shen F, Maitra A, Swart D, Tocker J, Jin T, Gaffen SL Cutting Edge: Identification of the pre-ligand binding assembly domain (PLAD) and ligand binding domain in the IL-17 receptor. J Immunol 2007; 179:6379 Shen F, Gaffen SL. Structure-function relationships in the IL-17 receptor: implications for signaling and therapy. Cytokine; 2008; 41:92-104 Garrett-Sinha LA, John S, Gaffen SL. IL-17 and the Th17 lineage in systemic lupus erythematosus. Curr Opin Rheumatol., 2008; 20:519-525 |
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| Grants | |
| R01-AR054389 “Structure-Function Relationships in the IL-17 Receptor” 2008-2013 R01-DE019424 “T helper responses to periodontal bone loss induced by Tannerella forsythus” 2008-2012 R21-DE018822 “Immunity to oral candidiasis” 2008-2010 Alliance for Lupus Research “IL-17RC: A novel target for anti-cytokine therapy” 2008-2010 |
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