Burkhardt Laboratory

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1. Resource Description

   "The focus of my lab is on the role of the cytoskeleton in T cell and dendritic cell function. The cytoskeleton is intimately involved in determining the efficiency and the fidelity of the immune response. For example, when a cytotoxic T cell recognizes a tumor cell for lysis, specific receptor interactions trigger capping of the cortical actin cytoskeleton, creating a specialized membrane domain that is important for T cell signaling events leading to lysis of the tumor cell. Similar processes are important for directing and modulating T cell help. In dendritic cells, actin regulatory proteins control the uptake and presentation of antigens, migration of antigen-bearing cells from sites of infection to lymphoid organs, and defining the outcome of T cell stimulation. Our long-term goals in the lab are to understand how receptor-ligand interactions at the cell surface trigger remodeling of the cytoskeleton, and how the cytoskeleton in turn affects the immune response. Proteins of current interest in the lab include WASP, an actin regulatory protein involved in immunodeficiency disease, HS1, a related protein implicated in autoimmune disease, and Crk family adapter proteins, proteins that control T cell adhesion and migration. "

2. PI

   Burkhardt, Janis K., PhD

3. Affiliation

   Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

4. Website(s)

   http://pathology.med.upenn.edu/department/people/400/janis-k-burkhardt

5. Secondary affiliation

   Penn Institute for Immunology