James Riley, Ph.D.

Research Associate Professor of Microbiology

Office Address:
Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute
Department of Microbiology
Perelman School of Medicine
University of Pennsylvania
3400 Civic Center Blvd
TRC 8-115
Philadelphia, PA 19104-5156

TEL 215-573-6792
FAX 215-573-8590
rileyj@mail.med.upenn.edu

Research Summary
Research in the Riley laboratory focuses on the cell biology of and therapeutic use of primary human T cells. One major project studies the signaling pathways initiated by members of the CD28 family (CD28, ICOS, CTLA-4, PD-1 and BTLA). These receptors, despite their structural similarity, play distinct roles in modulating the immune system. No recognizable enzymatic activity has been associated with any of their cytoplasmic tails but rather these receptors are thought to recruit unique set of signal transducing molecules, which choreograph their distinct effects on T cell activation. Our approach has been to perform structure-function experiments to determine which domains within the CD28 family members cytoplasmic tails are responsible for transducing particular signals. Understanding how these pathways alter a T cell’s response to antigen stimulation on a global basis may lead to the development of novel therapeutics for HIV and cancer.

The second major project strives to develop artificial antigen presenting cells (APCs) to optimally expand T cell subsets. We have created a library of lentiviral vectors encoding costimulatory molecules, HLA alleles, cytokines and chemokines that we used to transduce a MHC deficient cell line, K562. To date, we have engineered cells to express up to eight genes, providing the platform by which to dissect the signals required to optimally activate and expand human T cell subsets. Beyond the potential of this model to understand human T cell differentiation, this project is translational in nature. We are currently developing master cell banks that will allow us to use these artificial APCs to preferentially expand desired T cell subsets for adoptive T cell immunotherapy trails.

The third major project is to develop gene therapy approaches to redirect T cells to target infectious diseases or tumors using high affinity TCRs. We have developed humanized murine models to study the specificity and effectiveness of primary human T cells transduced with lentiviral vectors expressing these high affinity TCRs. Additionally, we are studying how viruses and tumors escape from this augmented immune pressure. Moreover, we are trying to dissect the signaling pathways by which enhanced affinity TCRs direct a more pronounced T cell response.

Rotation Projects
Please contact Dr. Riley concerning current rotation projects.

Lab personnel:
Angel Varela-Rohena, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Fellow
Fang Wei Ph.D. Postdoctoral Fellow
Samik Basu, MD. Postdoctoral Fellow
Max Richardson, Ph.D Postdoctoral Fellow
Caleph Wilson, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Fellow
Gabriela Plesa, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Fellow
Andrew Medvac, Research Specialist
Tatiana Mikheeva, Research Specialist
Hong Kong, Research Specialist
Lingjie Zheng, Research Specialist