Interests: CD1d-restricted NKT cells and the immune
response to injury
After severe injury the immune system loses its ability to defend the body
against infection by bacteria and viruses, leading to a high rate of infectious
complications and mortality among trauma patients. The immune system is comprised
of two components, the adaptive and innate systems, which cooperate to protect
the body from invasion of foreign organisms. In healthy individuals, adaptive
immune cells (i.e., T cells) receive instruction from innate cells such as
macrophages and dendritic cells (also called antigen presenting cells, or APCs).
Severe injury disrupts the communication between the innate and adaptive immune
systems, rendering individuals susceptible to infection. In addition to direct
regulation by APCs, a population of innate lymphocytes called natural killer
T (NKT) cells can also regulate T cell immunity. APCs express a molecule called
CD1d, that exclusively stimulates NKT cells to turn on genes that can either
amplify protective T cell immunity, or turn it off all together. Recent studies
by Dr. Faunce and other investigators have identified a central regulatory
role for CD1d-NKT cell interactions in the control of T cell immunity. As an
immunologist and member of the Burn and Shock Trauma Institute, Dr. Faunce's
main research objectives are to 1) understand the contributions of APCs, CD1d,
and NKT cells to injury-related immune suppression, 2) to identify possible
immune cell-based therapeutic approaches for alleviating the immune defects
that follow severe trauma, and 3) to understand the basic biology of NKT cell
regulation of cellular immunity.
