Research Abstract

The general goal of my research investigations is to understand at the molecular interaction level the receptor interactions, signaling pathways and functional consequences of T cells as they develop in the thymus, or respond in the periphery to natural antigens or to vaccines. This has led to an integration of molecular biological, biochemical/proteomic and cell biology approaches to focus upon molecular underpinnings in a true physiological context. These efforts led to the development of the first bispecific antibody reagents for specific depletion of T cell subsets, to the discovery and characterization of attractin protein, and most recently been applied to the molecular dynamics of plexinD1 on CD4+CD8+ thymocytes and its relation to thymic selection. In addition, I am actively involved in studies examining function of the preTCR during thymic development as well as analyzing aspects of the immune response at the protein-protein interaction level to viral infection.