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Laurel Eckhardt, Hesselbach Professor of Biology Lab Web Site: http://Eckhardt.bioweb.hunter.cuny.edu |
Education:
- B.A., 1974, The University of Texas at Austin
- Ph.D., 1980, Stanford University
- Postdoc., 1980-1984, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Research Interest:
- Molecular Genetics of Lymphocyte Development and Differentiation
The long-range research goal of this laboratory is to understand the genetic events that accompany lymphocyte differentiation and that specify lymphocyte function. B and T lymphocytes are central to the adaptive immune system - the mechanism by which vertebrates develop long-term and specific immunity to pathogens. B lymphocytes use antibodies to recognize pathogens and give rise to plasmacytes that actively secrete antibodies as a means to eliminate disease-causing organisms.
The current major research interest of the laboratory is the control of antibody (or immunoglobulin) gene expression in the developing B lymphocyte. We and others have identified multiple transcriptional enhancers within the immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) locus. IgH gene assembly, transcription, heavy chain class-switching, and even the malignant transformation of the Ig-secreting cell likely depend upon the action of one or more of these enhancers. We are undertaking functional analyses of the enhancers (using transgenic mice and Igh locus-modified mice) to identify their respective roles in the complex regulation of this immunologically important locus.
Selected Publications:
- Li, F. and Eckhardt, L.A. (2009) A role for the IgH intronic enhancer, Eμ, in enforcing
allelic exclusion. J Exp Med. 206:153-67. Epub 2008 Dec 29. - Yan, Y., Park, S.S., Janz, S., and Eckhardt, L.A. (2007) In a model of immunoglobulin (IGH)/MYC translocation, the Igh 3’ regulatory region induces MYC expression at the immature stage of B cell development. Genes, Chrom. & Cancer 46: 950-959.
- Zhang, B., Alaie-Petrillo, A., Kon, M., Li, F. and Eckhardt, L.A. (2007) Transcription of a productively rearranged Ig VDJC does not require the presence of HS4 in the Igh 3’ regulatory region. J. Immunol. 178: 6297-6306.
- Zhou, Jie, Saleque, S., Ermakova, O., Sepulveda, M., Eckhardt, L.A., Schildkraut, C.L., and Birshtein, B.K. (2005) J. Immunol. 175: 2317-2320
- Garrett, F.E., Emelyanov, A.V. Sepulveda, M.A., Flanagan, P., Volpi, S. Li, F. Loukinov, D., Eckhardt, L.A., Lobanenkov, V.V. and Birshtein, B.K. (2005) Mol. Cell. Biol. 25: 1511-1525
- Salas, M. and Eckhardt, L.A. (2003) Critical role for the Oct-2/OCA-B partnership in Ig-secreting cells. J. Immunol. 171:6589-6598.
- Shi, X. and Eckhardt, L.A. (2001) Deletional analyses reveal an essential role for the hs3b/hs4 IgH 3 enhancer pair in an Ig-secreting but not an earlier-stage B cell line. Int. Immunol. 13:1003-1012.
- Sharif, N., Radomska, H.S., Miller, D.M., and Eckhardt, L.A. (2001) Unique function for carboxyl-terminal domain of Oct-2 in Ig-secreting cells. J. Immunol. 167:4421-4429.