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Research | Core Facilities | Patient Studies | Tech Transfer | Seminars | Intranet | Careers | Search | Contact Us | Ways To Give HOME |
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More about Dr. Alberola-Ila's CV in brief Immunobiology and Cancer Research Program
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Research Interests The mechanisms that regulate CD4/CD8 lineage commitment have been the object of intense study during the last decade. Two main models, stochastic and instructional, were proposed to explain how MHC specificity and co-receptor expression are linked during development. The instructional model proposes that recognition and co-engagement of TCR/CD8 by class I MHC or of TCR/CD4 by class II MHC will instruct the cells to follow a CD8 or a CD4 developmental pathway, respectively. IT has been proposed that the distinct instructional signal would be delivered through the co-receptor. My experiments indentified the tyrosine kinase, Lck, as the critical component in this process. Subsequent experiments in my laboratory showed that the transcription factor, GATA-3, is also a central component of the program that directs development of CD4 T cells in the thymus. The main focus of my laboratory at the moment is to understand how GATA-3 controls this lineage decision. To that intent, we are trying to a) determine the signal transduction elements that regulate GATA-3 expression during CD4/CD8 lineage commitment, connecting it to the Lck signals at this state; b)analyze the mechanism of action of GATA-3 using structure-function analysis; c) identify GATA-3 targets during CD4 lineage differentiation in the thymus; and d) understand the interactions between GATA-3 and TH-POK, a zinc-finger transcription factor recently identified as a central player in the development of the CD4 lineage. Joined OMRF Scientific Staff in 2005. Mailing Address
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