Department of Immunology
Zelig Eshhar, Head
Research topics of our Department span the wide range from basic mechanisms in the development, recognition, inter-cellular communication, trafficking, and effector functions of the immune system to the role of these processes in autoimmune disorders, allergies and cancer. Special attention is given to the studies of immunomodulation and immunotherapy of these diseases leading to the development of specific vaccines to viruses, parasites, cancer and autoimmune diseases. Specific projects include production of specific antibodies for targeting of drugs and effector lymphocytes; raising of catalytic antibodies; studies of the repertoire and specificity of the T-cell receptor in autoimmune models for multiple sclerosis, diabetes, arthritis, and myasthenia gravis; definition of antigen recognition and mode of action of killer lymphocytes in allograft and tumor rejection; understanding the developmental process of leukemias and treating them; use of cytokines for immunotherapy of metastases and immunomodulation of lymphocyte migration; immune cell adhesion and migration; the control of inflammatory processes; development of hematopoietic stem cells and T-cells activity during aging as well as understanding antigen recognition mechanisms by their receptors and its coupling to cellular response in mast cells as a model.
R. Alon
Biophysics of selectin and integrin-mediated rolling adhesions in shear flow.
Chemokine regulation of integrin adhesiveness and cell motility.
Intracellular regulation of integrin functions implicated in lymphocyte adhesion to vascular endothelium and migration to target tissues.
R. Arnon
Studies on antigenicity and vaccine development.
Immunochemical aspects of schistosomiasis.
Synthetic peptides and synthetic vaccines.
R. Arnon, M. SelaExperimental allergic encephalomyelitis and its suppression by basic copolymers of amino acids: Relevance to multiple sclerosis.
R. Arnon, M. SelaThe possible use of antibodies for local drug delivery of the anti-cancer agent, cis-platinum.
R. Arnon, M. Wilchek
A. Ben-Nun
Demonstration of new primary target antigens (MOG, MOBP, .....) in multiple sclerosis and the implications for pathogenic processes and immune-specific therapy.
Epitope-directed immune-specific therapy of MOG-induced EAE mediated by altered peptides. Mechanisms of T cell modulation.
T cell receptor and ligand interaction in autoimmune disease.
Non-superantigenic bacterial toxins, T cell subsets and autoimmune disease.
Effect of encephalitogenic myelin-specific T cells and demyelinating antibodies on nerve conduction in the central nervous system in vitro.
G. Berke
Cancer Immunity: a) Tetrameric MHC-peptide complexes in cancer detection and as cancer vaccines, b) Fas/Fas-L in tumor immunity c) Tumor escape mechanisms.
Immunological memory in cancer.
Apoptosis of the heart muscle.
Autoimmune T cells and tissue maintenance in the nervous system
I. Cohen, M. SchwartzAutoimmunity to hsp60 and the development of subunit vaccines against infectious diseases.
Regulation of immune inflammation by small carbohydrate molecules
I. Cohen, O. LiderAutoimmunity to p53 and the development of systemic lupus erythematosus
I. Cohen, V. RotterAutoimmune diabetes: Pathogenesis and immune therapy.
Indentification of human TAA peptides through differential display methods (DNA chips, SAGE) and HLA transgenic mice.
MNC classI and classII TAA peptides in anti-tumor immunotherapy.
Antigen presentation and induction of anti-tumor immunity.
Z. Eshhar
Modulation of IgE-receptor interactions in the allergic response.
Design and generation of catalytic antibodies.
Immuno-gene therapy of tumors.
The Role of the CX3CR1 chemokine receptor in the homing of Pulmonary Memory T cells
Dendritic Cell In Vivo Functions Defined By Conditional Cell Ablation
Origin of Peripheral Myeloid Cells in Homeostasis and Pathogen Challenge
Mechanism of human stem cell migration and development, both normal and leukemic and the factors that regulate these processes in vivo.
- The interplay between chemokines, cytokines, proteolytic enzymes adhesion molecules, osteoblasts and osteoclasts in regulation of the stem cell niche and blood formation.
- Mechanism of stress induced mobilization and recruitment of stem cells from the bone marrow into the circulation during inflammation, injury and bleeding as part of organ repair.
- Steady state homeostatic release and function of blood circulating stem cells.
- In vivo migration and dissemination of leukemic human AML stem cells, the role of the proteolytic enzyme elastase and the chemokine SDF-1.
- T lymphocyte and stem cells / blood vessel wall interactions during transendothelial migration, assayed by electron and confocal microscopy.
- CXCR4/SDF-1 signaling in normal and leukemic hematopoiesis.
- Lentiviral vectors for stem cell gene transfer. GFP and CXCR4 overexpression
- The essential roles of the adhesion molecule CD44 in normal and malignant stem cell motility, assayed by migration and confocal microscopy.
CD45 signalling in stem cell development
E. Mozes
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE): Mechanisms for the induction and development and approaches for disease immunomodulation.
T cell and cytokine dysregulation in autoimmune diseases.
T cell epitopes of the human acetylcholine receptor and their analogs in myasthenia gravis.
Autoimmunity in aging: The SLE experimental model.
I. Pecht
Control of immunoreceptor stimulus-response coupling by a novel, C-type lectin of mast cells.
Studies of T-cell recognition: Interactions between antigenic peptides, MHC molecules and the T-cell receptor on living cells and in solution by fluorescence methods.
Mechanisms of electron transfer in proteins with particular reference to structure-function relationships of blue copper proteins.
Y. Reisner
The role of megadose stem cell transplants in overcoming MHC barriers in sublethally irradiated recipients: A new approach for tolerance induction.
Mechanism(s) of tolerance induction by different veto cells.
Human/mouse chimera: New models for human antibody production and for induction of human CTLs against human tumors.
I. Shachar
Determine the mechanisms regulating immature B cell differentiation in the spleen.
Follow the mechanisms controlling homing of immature B cells to the spleen.