PRIMARY FACULTY

Clifford Snapper, M.D.
Assistant Professor
Pathology
 
4301 Jones Bridge Road
Bethesda MD 20814
Office: 301-295-3490
Fax: 301-295-1996
csnapper@usuhs.mil

The goal of our laboratory is to develop a detailed and integrated model of the immunologic parameters that mediate both protein-specific and polysaccharide-specific in vivo humoral immunity to the extracellular bacteria, Streptococcus pneumoniae, using the mouse as the model host. The following areas are of active research interest in our laboratory: The role of 1) costimulatory molecule pairs, such as B7/CD28 and CD40/CD40-ligand in mediating T cell activation, 2) dendritic cells in presenting protein and polysaccharide antigens for induction of an Ig response in vivo, 3) pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines in regulating Ig isotype responses, 4) dissection of novel forms of T-cell help in induction of antigen-specific Ig responses, 5) toll-like receptors in linking innate and adaptive immunity, A wide range of cellular methodologies are employed including mouse immunizations, bacterial culture, ELISA, flow cytometry, magnetic cell sorting, adoptive transfer, immunohistochemistry, in vitro cell culture, antibody and other protein purifications, and dendritic cell isolation and propagation. Molecular approaches include extensive use of knockout and transgenic mice, genotyping, and "Real-time" RT-PCR for measurement of cytokine- and chemokine-specific mRNA, and microarray analyses for large-scale gene profiling.

Selected Publications

Resources