Children's Health Research Institute

Current Research Activities

My research team made the original discovery that SAP is involved in a process called negative or inhibitory signaling by B cells. Negative signaling is important for proper immune regulation, and I believe that it is the imbalance of positive versus negative immune response that is underpinning the XLP syndrome. My team carried out the initial biochemical analysis on the interactions between SAP and three molecules that play critical roles in the immune system.

In addition, I use an integrated approach that combines molecular, cellular, and proteomic information to obtain a comprehensive picture of how certain proteins interact and transduce signals in a cell. I am particularly interested in understanding the mechanisms of asymmetric cell division, cell polarity and adhesion, and how adaptor proteins function in facilitating immunoreceptor signaling. Moreover, my team employs peptide and protein arrays to identify protein-protein interaction networks underlying these important biological events.

Research Team

Zezhou Wang, Post-doctoral fellow
Shelley Sandiford, Post-doctoral fellow
Xing Li, Post-doctoral fellow
Thamara Dayarathna, Post-doctoral fellow
Tomonari Kaneko, Post-doctoral fellow
Bing Zhao, Post-doctoral fellow
Marek Galka, Post-doctoral fellow
Lei Li, Post-doctoral fellow
Gurpreet Dhami, Post-doctoral fellow
Huadong Liu, Post-doctoral fellow
Karen Kennedy, Graduate Student
Rena Wei, Graduate Student
Wendy Zhu, Graduate Student

Future Research Plans

I propose to test my findings in B and T cells isolated from mice. Because it is not always practical to perform biochemical analysis on human subjects, a mouse model is often created for studying the mechanism of a human disease. My team will compare B cells or T cells isolated from the SAP-deficient mice with those from normal mice to define defects in signaling by the SAP-deficient B or T cells. We will also examine the growth and survival of these cells under various immunological challenges. An understanding of precisely how SAP regulates B and T cell activation, growth, and survival should lead to new ways of treating the XLP disease.