| Lymphocyte Differentiation Section |
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Nan-ping Weng, M.D., Ph.D.
Senior Investigator |
| Overview: The research interests of the Lymphocyte Differentiation Section are focused on two areas: (1) the molecular and cellular mechanisms of lymphocyte differentiation and immunological memory and (2) the molecular basis of learning and memory formation. The function of the immune system is dependent on the ability of lymphocyte division during development, differentiation and activation. It is unknown how naïve lymphocytes differentiate to become memory cells, what is the molecular basis of long-lived memory lymphocytes, and how aging influence the immune functions. A large-scale analysis of gene expression in naïve and memory lymphocytes allows us to identify genes that are involved in these processes. Another area of interest is the mechanisms of learning and memory formation and aging effects on this process. We use rat stone maze as a model and analyze gene expression dynamics in hippocampus during maze learning. |
| Manuscripts |
| Liu, K., Li, Y., Prabhu, V., Young, L., Becker, K.G., Munson, P.J., Weng, N.: Augmentation in Expression of Activation-Induced Genes Differentiates Memory from Naive CD4+ T Cells and Is a Molecular Mechanism for Enhanced Cellular Response of Memory CD4+ T Cells, J. Immunol., 2001; 166(12): 7335-7344. |
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| Liu, K., Catalfamo, M., Li, Y., Henkart, P.A., Weng, N.: IL-15 Mimics TCR Crosslinking in the Induction of Cellular Proliferation, Gene Expression, and Cytotoxicity in CD8+ Memory T Cells, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 2002; 99: 6192-6197. |
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