Immunology Graduate Group
Laurence A. Turka, M.D.
C. Mahlon-Kline Professor of Medicine; Chief,
Renal-Electrolyte & Hypertension Division
Address: 415 Curie Blvd.,
700 Clinical Research Bldg.
Office Phone: (215) 898-1018
Lab Phone: (215) 898-1951
Fax: (215) 573-2880
Email: turka@mail.med.upenn.edu
Education:
M.D., Yale Medical School
B.A., Colgate University
Research Interests
T cell tolerance, Transplantation immunology.
Research Summary
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| The fluorescent dye CFSE can be used to label cells ex vivo, and then to track the number of cell divisions they have undergone following antigen encounter. Labelled cells fluoresce very brightly (extreme right of histograms), and this decreases with successive waves of mitosis. Here, splenocytes from an OVA TCR transgenic mouse were labeled with CFSE and 25 x 106 were adoptively transferred into each of 2 congenic BALB/c mice. The mice were unimmunized (top right) or immunized with OVA peptide in CFA (middle and bottom right). The left panel shows a sample dot plot of CD4 and KJ1-26 staining used to identify the transgenic T cells. The right-hand panels shows CFSE profiles of transgenic cells from the unimmunized mouse (top) or from non-draining or draining lymph nodes of the immunized mouse (middle and lower right respectively). The small peak at the far left of the non-immunized and non-draining histograms represents autofluorescence of unleveled cells endogenous T cells which are contained in a liberally drawn gate in panel A. |
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.
Recent Publications
Wells AD, Li XC, Li Y, Walsh M, Zheng XX, Wu Z, Nuñez G, Tang A, Sayegh M, Hancock WW, Strom TB, and Turka LA. Requirement for T cell apoptosis in the induction of peripheral transplantation tolerance. Nature Medicine 5:1303-1307, 1999.
Gudmundsdottir H and Turka LA. A closer look at homeostatic proliferation of CD4+ T cells: costimulatory requirements and role in memory formation. J Immunol 167:3699-3707, 2001
Wells AD, Walsh MC, Bluestone JA, and Turka LA. Signaling through CD28 and CTLA-4 controls two distinct forms of T cell anergy. J Clin Invest 108:895-903, 2001.
Schrum A and Turka LA. The proliferative capacity of individual naive CD4+ T cells is amplified by prolonged T cell antigen receptor (TCR) triggering. J Exp Med 196:793-803, 2002