|
 Etty
(Tika) Benveniste, PhD
Professor
of Cell Biology
Chair,
Department of Cell Biology
1530
Third Avenue South--MCLM 395A (zip 35294-0005)
Phone:
(205) 934-7667 or (205) 975-0734 Email:
tika@uab.edu
Affiliations
Department of Cell
Biology
Department of Physiology &
Biophysics
Department of
Neurobiology
Biographical
Sketch (Community of Science
- Profile)
Etty (Tika) Benveniste (b. 1956),
Professor and Chairman of Cell Biology, received her Ph.D. in 1983 from UCLA in
the field of immunology. During her postdoctoral studies in the Department of
Neurology at UCLA, she initiated research which has continued up to this time,
on elucidating the mechanisms underlying cytokine/chemokine production by glial
cells, and the effects of cytokines/chemokines on glial cell function. Dr.
Benveniste has served as the Director, Graduate Program in Cell Biology and as
Associate Dean, Office of Postdoctoral Education. She became Chairman of the
Cell Biology Department in 2000.
Research
(Interests: Neuroimmunology)
Dr. Benveniste's research is
directed toward understanding how the immune system and central nervous system
(CNS) communicate with each other. Specifically, her laboratory is studying the
occurrence of shared cytokines/chemokines between cells of the immune and
nervous systems. Astrocytes and microglia, the major glial cells of the CNS,
have been shown to act as antigen-presenting cells in the CNS. We are examining
the mechanisms by which cytokines modulate class II major histocompatibility
complex (MHC), matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and CD40 proteins on these
cells, the regulation of mRNA expression for class II MHC, MMPs and CD40, and
the transcription factors involved in gene expression. The ability of astrocytes
and microglia to secrete several immunoregulatory molecules (tumor necrosis
factor, interleukin-6, macrophage chemotactic protein, interleukin-8) is also
being studied, with an emphasis on the biological stimuli that induce these
cytokines/chemokines, intracellular signaling events involved in the response,
and the molecular mechanisms of gene regulation. We have also initiated studies
to examine the role of MMPs in astroglioma migration and invasion, and how
interferons inhibit this response at the transcriptional level. These projects
will provide a better understanding of how bidirectional communication occurs
between the immune and nervous systems, and how these interactions affect the
functionality of glial cells. These studies are also relevant to understanding
the pathogenesis of several neurologic diseases such as multiple sclerosis, an
autoimmune disease of the CNS, and HIV-1 Associated Dementia.
Publications (open
Pubmed
in new window)
(Updated December, 2005) |
