The goals of the Center for Lupus Research are to understand the role of neutrophils and monocytes in SLE pathogenesis and to determine the checkpoints where mature B cells break tolerance against self in SLE patients.
The present proposal integrates the information that we have generated using samples from pediatric SLE patients in the following areas:
1) Monocyte/Dendritic cell (DC) biology
2) Neutrophils
3) B cell/Plasma cells
Because dendritic cells (DCs) control immunity and tolerance, we engaged in the study of DCs from the blood of children with SLE. Read more.
The Center will establish:
. The role of neutrophils in SLE pathogenesis
. The role of monocytes in SLE pathogenesis
. The factor(s), other than IFN alpha/beta, responsible for the DC differentiation effect
of SLE serum
. B cell tolerance checkpoints of mature B cells
Deliverables of the Center:
. Robust, transcriptional assays to assess SLE disease activity
. Robust, protein-based assays to assess SLE disease activity
. Robust assays to predict response to therapy
. Knowledge on the role of monocytes in SLE pathogenesis
. Knowledge on the role of neutrophils in SLE pathogenesis
. Knowledge on the role of B cells in SLE pathogenesis
. Pre-clinical therapeutic value of TLR7/8/9 inhibitors
The Center for Lupus Research includes three projects and an Administrative Core. Pilot projects may be submitted by Center investigators. The Center includes investigators at the Baylor Institute for Immunology Research, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, The Rockefeller University, and Dynavax, Inc.
Annual Baylor Symposium on Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
The third symposium will be held on April 16, 2010.
The Second Annual Baylor Symposium on Systemic Lupus Erythematosus was held on January 14, 2009.
Watch Videos online.
The First Annual Baylor Symposium on Systemic Lupus Erythematosus was held on January 19, 2008.
Watch Videos online.
The purpose of the symposium is to educate laboratory staff, postdoctoral fellows and faculty members (including medical practitioners) to the progresses in human lupus research including its theory, assays, reagents and technology as they apply to lupus erythematosus. The workshop is designed to train students and post doctoral fellows to present their data in public.
Each Symposium will be dedicated to a specific topic on Lupus Erythematosus and a specific topic on Human Immunology. |
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