Using structural and functional genomics as well as computational modeling, we are analyzing coherent networks of transcription factors and the large sets of genomic regulatory sequences through which they act. A notable structural finding has been the discovery of distinct types of composite regulatory elements in immune response genes that are cooperatively bound by IRF4 or IRF8 with the Ets family member PU.1 or the AP-1 member BATF. We have elucidated key activities of IRF4 in the genomic programming of Th17 cells as well as dendritic cells. IRF4 and IRF8 are immune-system specific members of the IRF family of transcriptions factors that have crucial and diverse functions in regulating B and T lymphocytes as well as macrophages and dendritic cells. IRF4 regulates plasma cell differentiation and its molecular actions are antagonized by the related protein IRF8 to promote the germinal center B cell fate. In a collaboration, we cloned IRF4, a PU.1 partner. We have systematically illuminated the molecular functions of PU.1 in the development of B cells and macrophages. As an HHMI Investigator at the University of Chicago, my lab discovered that the Ets family member PU.1 was required for the development of multiple innate and adaptive immune cell lineages. Journal of Neuroscience, 30(22), 7466-7472.My interests are focused on the analysis of transcription factors and gene regulatory networks (GRNs) that orchestrate the development and functioning of innate as well as adaptive cells of the immune system. Early stress is associated with alterations in the orbitofrontal cortex: a tensor-based morphometry investigation of brain structure and behavioral risk. Hanson JL, Chung MK, Avants BB, Shirtcliff EA, Gee JC, Davidson RJ, & Pollak SD.
Association between income and the hippocampus. Hanson JL, Chandra A, Wolfe BL, & Pollak SD (2011). (2013) Family poverty affects the rate of human infant brain growth. Hanson JL, Hair N, Shen DG, Shi F, Gilmore JH, Wolfe BL, & Pollak SD. Behavior problems after early life stress: Contributions of the hippocampus and amygdala.
Hanson JL, Nacewicz BM, Sutterer MJ, Cayo AA, Schaefer SM, Rudolph KD, Shirtcliff EA, Pollak SD, & Davidson RJ. Blunted ventral striatum development in adolescence reflects emotional neglect and predicts depressive symptoms. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 11(3):405-412. Cumulative stress in childhood is associated with blunted reward-related brain activity in adulthood. Hanson JL, Albert D, Iselin AR, Carr̩ JM, Dodge KA, & Hariri AR.
0 kommentar(er)
