Immunology and Innate Defenses SARAH L. GAFFEN, PhD personal profile
Concentration on cytokines
Note: Another area of our research is available at Bone and Connective Tissues/Tissue Engineering/Craniofacial Biology
The major project related to oral health focuses on interleukin (IL)-17, a recently-discovered cytokine that is significantly elevated in several inflammatory conditions including rheumatoid arthritis. The IL-17 receptor (IL-17R) was cloned in 1995, but bears no homology to other cytokine receptor families. Recently, bioinformatics approaches identified several novel genes that encode transmembrane receptors with homology to the IL-17R; thus, the IL-17R is the prototypical member of an emerging new family of cytokine receptors. Since the biological significance and molecular function of IL-17 remains poorly defined, our current work focuses on several aspects of how the IL-17/IL-17 receptor system transmits signals.
We also have several projects investigating the role of the IL-2 family of cytokines, which coordinate the adaptive immune response. In particular, we study the role of the common gamma chain, a cytokine receptor subunit used by the IL-2, IL-4, IL-7, IL-9, IL-15 and IL-21 receptors.
“The most important thing in science is publications. It’s the currency.”