Research Focus:
Estrogen receptor alpha regulation of lupus.
Lupus is a devastating autoimmune disease that is associated with considerable morbidity and mortality. Approximately 90% of patients with lupus are women. This dramatic sex bias is due to endogenous estrogens. Using a mouse model of lupus, we have shown that estrogens promote lupus via estrogen receptor alpha (ER-alpha), which acts in a B cell intrinsic manner to enhance B cell activation and loss of tolerance. However, a concrete understanding of how ER-alpha signaling modulates B cell activation and loss of tolerance on a molecular level is unclear. Our current studies use genetics as well as molecular and cellular biological approaches to understand how ER-alpha impacts B cell biology and the development of lupus.
- Tabor, D. E., & Gould, K. A. (2017). Estrogen receptor alpha promotes lupus in (NZB×NZW)F1 mice in a B cell intrinsic manner. Clinical immunology (Orlando, Fla.), 174, 41–52.
- Nelson, R. K., & Gould, K. A. (2016). An Lck-cre transgene accelerates autoantibody production and lupus development in (NZB × NZW)F1 mice. Lupus, 25(2), 137–154.
- Yoachim, S. D., Nuxoll, J. S., Bynoté, K. K., & Gould, K. A. (2015). Estrogen receptor alpha signaling promotes Sle1-induced loss of tolerance and immune cell activation and is responsible for sex bias in B6.Sle1 congenic mice. Clinical immunology (Orlando, Fla.), 158(2), 153–166.
- Yuan, F., Tabor, D. E., Nelson, R. K., Yuan, H., Zhang, Y., Nuxoll, J., Bynoté, K. K., Lele, S. M., Wang, D., & Gould, K. A. (2013). A dexamethasone prodrug reduces the renal macrophage response and provides enhanced resolution of established murine lupus nephritis. PloS one, 8(11), e81483.
- Bynoté, K. K., Hackenberg, J. M., Korach, K. S., Lubahn, D. B., Lane, P. H., & Gould, K. A. (2008). Estrogen receptor-alpha deficiency attenuates autoimmune disease in (NZB x NZW)F1 mice. Genes and immunity, 9(2), 137–152.