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Arthritis and Immunology Research Program

Dr. Scofield In The News

Governor declares April Sjögren’s syndrome awareness month in Oklahoma

Robert H. "Hal" Scofield, M.D. Associate Member, Arthritis and Immunology Research Program Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Pathology,  University of Oklahoma   Health Sciences Center Department of Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

Research Interests
My laboratory concentrates on three major projects. First, we have developed a new animal model of Sjögren’s syndrome. This is a common autoimmune rheumatic illness in which there is autoimmune targeting of the salivary and lacrimal glands. Most people with the illness have antibodies in their sera binding the Ro and La proteins. When BALB/c mice are immunized with short peptides (15-18 amino acids in length) from the 60 kD Ro sequence, the mice first develop antibodies and T cell responses recognizing the peptide of immunization. Shortly thereafter there is intra- and intermolecular spreading such that these animals develop autoantibodies binding other epitopes of 60 kD Ro as well as anti-La and and anti-Ro52. We find lymphocytic infiltrates in the salivary glands of immunized animals whose structure and composition are similar to those found in the salivary glands of humans with Sjögren’s syndrome. Also, mice have a decrease in stimulated salivary flow. Thus, these mice recapitulate human Sjögren’s syndrome. Disease can be adoptively transferred by either cells or sera. Experiments are ongoing to determine the specificities of the cell type required for adoptive transfer as well as the specificity of immunoglobulin required for transfer of disease.

In regard to the genetics of SLE, my lab is pursuing the established and confirmed genetic linkage at 11q13 found in Black American SLE families. Black Americans have SLE more frequently and more severely than do White Americans. The strongest linkage is among families with severe disease. The linkage interval has been narrowed by typing of microsatellites within the region. In addition, typing of a large number of single nucleotide polymorphisms has been carried out. Several possible genetic associations are being pursued, including the catalase gene promoter region. We are also interested in the role of prolidase deficiency in autoimmunity.

Finally, we are investigating the association of SLE in men with the presence of Klinefelter’s syndrome (47,XXY). Klinefelter’s syndrome is present in 1 in 17,000 live male births, but our data indicate that 5 of 207 men with SLE have 47,XXY. Meanwhile, Turner’s syndrome (45,XO females) is not commonly found among women with SLE. Thus, we hypothesize that the female-to-male predilection of SLE is due to a gene dose effect on the X chromosome.

Joined OMRF Scientific Staff in 1991.

Mailing Address
Arthritis and Immunology Research Program, MS 38
Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation
825 N.E. 13th Street
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73104

Contact Information
Phone: (405) 271-7061
Fax: (405) 271-7063
E-mail: Hal-Scofield@omrf.org