Skopelja-Gardner Lab
Principal Investigator: Sladjana Skopelja-Gardner
Institution: Dartmouth College (Hanover, NH)
Primary Subfield: Immunology
Recruitment Status: Inquire for rotation/fellowship opportunities
Research Focus
The overwhelming success of blocking negative checkpoint regulators (NCR; e.g. CTLA-4, PD-1) in cancer has irrefutably validated NCRs as effective therapeutic targets in unleashing adaptive immunity in humans. We now present compelling evidence that V-domain Ig suppressor of T cells (VISTA), in addition to its role in regulating adaptive immunity, is a central negative regulator of innate immunity. Anti-VISTA mabs that trigger through VISTA disrupt neutrophil and macrophage chemotaxis, alter the myeloid transcriptome and program myeloid cells to an anti-inflammatory phenotype. Accordingly, anti-VISTA administration profoundly mitigates pathology in autoimmune disease models mediated by the innate immune system. This proposal will comprehensively address the impact of checkpoint regulation by VISTA on the genetics, epigenetics, biochemistry and immunology of myeloid-mediated inflammation. SA#1. VISTA is expressed on neutrophils at very high densities and we propose that VISTA is a central NCR of neutrophil activities. Data show that anti-VISTA triggering ablates their chemotactic activities to inflammatory chemokines and arrests neutrophil-mediated inflammation in vivo. A comprehens…
Active NIH Awards
- 5R01AR080641-04: MAIT cells in lupus skin disease and photosensitivity (2026)
- 5R01AR080641-03: MAIT cells in lupus skin disease and photosensitivity (2025)
- 5R01AI148430-05: VISTA is a negative checkpoint regulator of innate immunity (2024)
- 7R01AR080641-02: MAIT cells in lupus skin disease and photosensitivity (2024)
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