Untitled Document

Laurence A. Turka

Adjunct Professor of Medicine

Department: Medicine

Contact information

111 Clinical Research Building
415 Curie Blvd
Philadelphia, PA 19104

Office: (215) 898-1018
Fax: (215) 573-2880

Email:
turka@mail.med.upenn.edu

Publications

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Education:
B.A. (Biochemistry, Summa Cum Laude)
Colgate University, Hamilton, N.Y., 1978.
M.D.
Yale University, 1982.
M.A. (hon)
University of Pennsylvania, 1995.

Links
Search PubMed for articles
Immunology graduate group faculty webpage.

Post-Graduate Training
Intern in Medicine , Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, CT, 1982-1983.
Resident in Medicine, Yale-New Haven Hospital, 1983-1985.
Fellowship, Nephrology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 1985-1988.

Permanent link

Description of Research Expertise

Research Interests

T cell tolerance, Transplantation immunology.

Research Summary

Broadly speaking, our laboratory is interested in defining cellular and biochemical mechanisms of peripheral tolerance. A subset of the lab has a particular interest in mechanisms and application to the setting of transplantation tolerance. One focus of particular interest is the role of T cell costimulatory signals through CD28:B7 family interactions as well as those of the TNF:TNFR family. These studies utilize T cell receptor transgenic mice for in vivo models of immune responses, as well as skin, heart, islet, and bone-marrow transplantation models. Emphasis is placed on the use of flow cytometry to track antigen-reactive T cells in vivo, quantitative analyses of effector function such as cytokine production and survival, requirements for the development of memory vs. regulatory cells, and signal transduction in regulatory and tolerized T cells.

Selected Publications

Yuan, X., Ansari, M.J., D'Addio, F., Paez-Cortez, J., Schmitt-Knosalla, I., Donnarumma, M., Boenisch, O., Popoola, J., Clarkson, M.R., Yagita, H., Hisaya, A., Freeman, G.J., Iacomini, J., Turka, L.A., Glimcher, L.H., Sayegh, M.H.: Targeting TIM-1: To overcome resistance to transplantation tolerance mediated by CD8 T17 cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 106: 10734-10739, 2009.

King, C.G., Buckler, J.L., Kobayashi, T., Hannah, J.R., Bassett, G., Kim, T., Pearce, E.L., Kim, G.G., Turka, L.A., Choi, Y.: Cutting Edge: Requirement for TRAF6 in the induction of T cell anergy. Journal of Immunology 180: 34-38, 2008.

LaRosa, D.F., Stumhofer, J.S., Gelman, A.E., Rahman, A.H., Taylor, D.K., Hunter, C.A., Turka, L.A.: T cell expression of myeloid differentiation protein 88 is required for resistance to Toxoplasma gondii. Proceedings from the National Academy of Science 105: 3855-3860, 2008.

Bloom, D.D., Chang, Z., Fechner, J.H., Dar, W., Polster, S.P., Pascual, J., Turka, L.A., Knecthle, S.J.: CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ regulatory T cells increase de novo in kidney transplant patients after immunodepletion with Campath-1H. American Journal of Transplantation 8: 793-802, 2008.

Ueno, T., Habicht, A., Clarkson, M.R., Albin, M.J., Yamaura, K., Boenisch, O., Popoola, J., Wang, Y., Yagita, H., Akiba, H., Ansari, M.J., Yang, J., Turka, L.A., Rothstein, D.M., Padera, R.F., Najafian, N., Sayegh, M.H.: The emerging role of T cell immunoglobulin mucin 1 (Tim-1) in alloimmune responses in vivo. Journal of Clinical Investigation 118: 742-751, 2008.

Allenspach, A.J., Lemos, M.P., Porrett, P.M., Turka, L.A., Laufer, T.M.: Migratory and lymphoid-resident dendritic cells cooperate to efficiently prime naive CD4 T cells. Immunity 29: 795-806, 2008.

Porrett, P.M., Yuan, X., LaRosa, D.F., Walsh, P.T., Yang, J., Gao, W., Li, P., Zhang, J., Ansari, J.M., Hancock, W.W., Sayegh, M.H., Koulmanda, M., Strom, T.B., Turka, L.A.: Mechanisms underlying blockade of allograft acceptance by TLR ligands. Journal of Immunology 181: 1692-1699, 2008.

Rahman, A.H., Cui, W., LaRosa, D.F., Taylor, D.K., Zhang, J., Goldstein, D.R., Wherry, E.J., Kaech, S.M., Turka, L.A.: MyD88 plays a critical T cell-intrinsic role in supporting CD8 T cell expansion during acute LCMV infection. Journal of Immunology 181: 3804-3810, 2008.

Dzierszinski, F., Pepper, M., Stumhofer, J.S., LaRosa, D.F., Wilson, E.H., Turka, L.A., Halonen, S.K., Hunter, C.A., Roos, D.S.: Presentation of Toxoplasma gondii antigens via the endogenous major histocompatibility complex class I pathway in nonprofessional and professional antigen presenting cells. Infectious Immunology 75: 5200-5209, 2007.

LaRosa, D.F., Gelman, A.e., Rahman, A.H., Zhang, J., Turka, L.A., Walsh, P.T.: CpG DNA inhibits CD4+CD25+ Treg suppression through direct MyD88-dependent costimulation of effector CD4+ T cells. Immunology Letters 108: 183-188, 2007.