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Vincent K. Tuohy, Ph.D.StaffDepartment of Immunology |
Area of general research interest:
Autoimmunity, Immunoregulation, T Cells, Gene Therapy, Cancer Vaccines
Current program:
- Plasticity of Self-Recognition in Autoimmune Disease
- Immunoregulation of Autoimmunity
- Gender Regulation of Autoimmunity
- Gene Therapy in the Treatment of Autoimmunity
- Autoimmune Sensorineural Hearing Loss
- Ovarian Autoimmunity and Premature Ovarian Failure
- Autoimmune Myocarditis and Heart Failure
- Development of Therapeutic Cancer Vaccines
Investigators:
- Justin M. Johnson, B.S., Laboratory Manager
- Cengiz Z. Altuntas, Ph.D., Research Associate
- Ritika Jaini, Ph.D., Research Fellow
- Pavani Kesaraju, Ph.D., Research Fellow
- Roberto Aguilar, M.S., Graduate Student
Collaborators:
- Xiaoxia Li, Ph.D. Department of Immunology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH
- Gordon B. Hughes, M.D., Head and Neck Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH
- Firouz Daneshgari, M.D., Urological Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH
- Cynthia C. Morton, Ph.D., Harvard Medical School, Department of Pathology, Boston, MA
- Nahid G. Robertson, Ph.D., Harvard Medical School, Department of Pathology, Boston, MA
- M. Edward Medof, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH
- Lawrence M. Nelson, M.D., Developmental Endocrinology Branch, NICHD, NIH, Bethesda, MD
Brief Description:
Our laboratory focus involves understanding the complex self-recognition events that lead to progression of autoimmune disease and developing novel therapeutic strategies that prevent disease progression. We have a long-standing history of research on multiple sclerosis (MS) and have developed a widely used mouse model called experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) that mimics many of the features of MS. Our recent studies show that a single injection of a gene encoding beta interferon is sufficient to provide long-term therapy for central nervous system autoimmune demyelinating disease.
We have recently developed a mouse model for autoimmune sensorineural hearing loss (ASNHL), the most common cause of sudden deafness in adults and have developed mouse models for autoimmune-mediated heart failure involving targeted recognition of several different heart antigens including cardiac α-myosin heavy chain and the β1-adrenergic receptor. In addition, we have developed a mouse model for premature ovarian failure, a disease that affects 1% of women in their childbearing years, and our extended program involves the development of novel autoimmune models that provide effective therapeutic cancer vaccines for ovarian, breast, and prostate cancer.
Key References:
Altuntas CZ, et al. Autoimmune targeted disruption of the pituitary-ovarian axis causes premature ovarian failure. J Immunol 2006;177:1988.
Jaini R, et al. Gene-based intramuscular interferon-beta therapy for experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. Mol Ther 2006;14:416.
Baek M-J, et al. Increased frequencies of cochlin specific T cells in patients with autoimmune sensorineural hearing loss. J Immunol 2006;177:4203.
Jane-wit D, et al. β1-adrenergic receptor autoantibodies mediate dilated cardiomyopathy by agonistically inducing cardiomyocyte apoptosis. Circulation 2007;116:399.