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TIG - Tolerance Laboratory

Steve Cobbold (Senior Scientist)

Steve Cobbold's Home Page
Steve is generating new monoclonal antibodies against molecules that may have a role in immunoregulation, particularly those that are being identified by Serial Analysis of Gene Expression (SAGE), microarray, and custom TaqMan low density real time RT-PCR arrays (TLDA; Applied BioSystems). He is interested in the mechanisms of peripheral tolerance, and ways of generating tolerance as a therapeutic procedure. Most recently he has been working on identifying the molecular mechanisms of linked suppression and infectious tolerance. He has recently identified an important role for nutrient sensing, particularly of essential amino acids, as a mechanism of immune regulation.

He does quite a lot of analysis of T-cell subsets by 4 colour FACS, sorting and cloning, with Liz Adams (also you should see Steve if you wish to use the TIG FACSCalibur with 96 well plate autosampler facilities.)

He has also written various software for the lab, including a complete suite of sofware for SAGE (and microarray) analysis, some of which can be downloaded.

Steve Cobbold's Publications.

Sue Humm

Sue is now the contact person for technical issues and orders within the TIG group, having taken over from our previous lab manager (Mark Frewin). Sue's expertise is particularly in large scale tissue culture - especially the production of large quantites of monoclonal antibodies for in vivo use using a "home grown" system of hollow fibre bioreactors. She also does purification and testing of monoclonal antibodies, and is Steve's deputy for the TIG FACScan facilities.
Sue is also looking after the TaqMan machine for quantitative real-time RT-PCR, is an "old hand" at making SAGE libraries, including SMART and LongSAGE libraries.

Liz Adams

Liz is a post-doc focussed on murine models of peripheral tolerance to skin grafts using CD4 and CD8 antibodies in vivo. She is also looking at the mechanisms of linked suppression both in vivo and in vitro. She has "green fingers" when it comes to cloning of tolerant and naive T-cells, and is analysing Th1, Th2, Tr1, Th9 and foxP3+ Treg subsets ex vivo, using ELISAs, bioassays and cytoplasmic staining with 4 colour FACS analysis for cytokines including IFN-gamma, IL-4, IL-10, IL-9 and TNF-alpha. She is also looking at the role of mast cells in tolerance and their relationship to Tr1 and Th9 cells. She continues to determine, together with Steve, the requirements for inducing foxP3 and regulatory activity by anti-CD4 blockade in vitro and in vivo.

Jianbo Ma

Jianbo is a research assistant looking at the role of T cell depletion and homeostatic expansion in the induction of tolerance to skin grafts by coreceptor blockade or by lymphodepletion with CAMPATH (alemtuzumab) antibodies. He is also testing various models of acquired immune privilege.

Giovanni Piotti

Giovanni is a renal transplant physician who is spending a couple of years with our group as part of his studies for a PhD in Milan, Italy. He will be working on model systems aimed at improving "physician guided reconstition" to encourage regulatory T cells and tolerance, particularly after T cell depletion with CAMPATH (alemtuzumab) for organ transplantation.

Please note that the following are based in the "Students Lab": Room 214.20.32 (Phone: 44-1865-275506)

Christian Peter

Christian joined the group as a D.Phil student and his project is to investigate signalling pathways in T cells that induce foxP3 and regulatory T cell function. He has developed and cloned a cell line that strongly induces foxp3 in response to stimulation via the TCR in the presence of TGF-beta and is using it unravel the role of mTOR and nutrient sensing in the control of T cell differentiation.

Room 214.20.36 (was 47/48)
Tel: 44-(0)1865-275504