No thesis selected. I propose to study the molecular mechanisms regulating immune tolerance. I will apply molecular immunology techniques to investigate the state of enhanced immune tolerance in pregnancy. For this proposal, I will specifically examine serum factors that mediate the physiologic state of tolerance in pregnancy. Research investigations have uncovered several pregnancy-related factors that exhibit partial immunosuppression; however, they do not fully account for the anti-proliferative effects of pregnancy serum. I will be using mixed-lymphoycte reaction and myelin-specific T cell stimulation assays to screen and compare the immunosuppressive effects of various fractions of third-trimester pregnancy serum, and HPLC and mass spectrometry identification analysis. I will use in vitro systems to characterize the molecular pathways by which they mediate tolerance, and further examine their properties in vivo using the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis model for MS. I anticipate that these studies will provide insights into the molecular mechanisms that mediate the heightened state of immune tolerance in pregnancy, which could lead to more effective treatments for autoimmune disease and organ transplantation.
