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Doina Ganea, PhD

Earle H. Spaulding Chair in Microbiology and Immunology

Professor, Microbiology and Immunology

Office:  Medicine Education and Research Bldg. 1160

Telephone:  215-707-3207

Fax:  215-707-7788

Email: doina.ganea@temple.edu

Department of Microbiology and Immunology

Center for Substance Abuse Research

BS, Physics, 1967

University of Bucharest, Romania

 

MS, Biophysics, 1969

Department of Biophysics

University of Bucharest, Romania

 

PhD, Immunology, 1985

Department of Microbiology and Immunology

University of Illinois at Chicago

Chicago, IL

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The major research interests and most of the current research in my laboratory are in the field of neuroimmunology. Although the bidirectional communications between the neuroendocrine and the immune systems are well recognized today, the molecular mechanisms through which the two systems communicate are largely unknown. We are concerned in particular with the effects of neuropeptides on the immune system and response. Our latest research focuses on two neuropeptides produced by both the nervous and immune system, the vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and the pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP). We study the expression and regulation of specific VIP/PACAP receptors in various immune cells, and their involvement in the immunoregulatory effects of VIP and PACAP. We also study the mechanisms by which these neuropeptides affect cytokine production in macrophages and T cells, including transduction pathways and transcriptional factors. Recently we developed new areas of research related to the effect of neuropeptides on T cell survival from activation-induced apoptosis, on T cell differentiation into Th1/Th2 effector cells, and on the development of tolerogenic dendritic cells and subsequently of antigen-specific regulatory T cells. We correlate the various in vitro effects with effects in vivo, especially in pathological conditions, such as septic shock, graft-versus-host disease, and models of autoimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.

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Recent Medically Related Publications, Obtained from PubMed (Click on PubMed ID to view abstract)

20122166. Kong W, Yen JH, Vassiliou E, Adhikary S, Toscano MG, Ganea D, Docosahexaenoic acid prevents dendritic cell maturation and in vitro and in vivo expression of the IL-12 cytokine family. Lipids Health Dis 9:1(12)2010 Feb 1

20068554. Toscano MG, Delgado M, Kong W, Martin F, Skarica M, Ganea D, Dendritic Cells Transduced With Lentiviral Vectors Expressing VIP Differentiate Into VIP-secreting Tolerogenic-like DCs. Mol Ther :()2010 Jan 12

19531658. Yen JH, Ganea D, Interferon beta induces mature dendritic cell apoptosis through caspase-11/caspase-3 activation. Blood 114:7(1344-54)2009 Aug 13

19332079. Zhang M, Adler MW, Abood ME, Ganea D, Jallo J, Tuma RF, CB2 receptor activation attenuates microcirculatory dysfunction during cerebral ischemic/reperfusion injury. Microvasc Res 78:1(86-94)2009 Jun

19255856. Zhang M, Martin BR, Adler MW, Razdan RJ, Kong W, Ganea D, Tuma RF, Modulation of cannabinoid receptor activation as a neuroprotective strategy for EAE and stroke. J Neuroimmune Pharmacol 4:2(249-59)2009 Jun

18802056. Vassiliou EK, Kesler OM, Tadros JH, Ganea D, Bone marrow-derived dendritic cells generated in the presence of resolvin E1 induce apoptosis of activated CD4+ T cells. J Immunol 181:7(4534-44)2008 Oct 1

18598752. Delgado M, Ganea D, Anti-inflammatory neuropeptides: a new class of endogenous immunoregulatory agents. Brain Behav Immun 22:8(1146-51)2008 Nov

18566439. Khayrullina T, Yen JH, Jing H, Ganea D, In vitro differentiation of dendritic cells in the presence of prostaglandin E2 alters the IL-12/IL-23 balance and promotes differentiation of Th17 cells. J Immunol 181:1(721-35)2008 Jul 1

18304750. Zhang M, Martin BR, Adler MW, Razdan RK, Ganea D, Tuma RF, Modulation of the balance between cannabinoid CB(1) and CB(2) receptor activation during cerebral ischemic/reperfusion injury. Neuroscience 152:3(753-60)2008 Mar 27

19248685. Baty DE, Zhang M, Li H, Erb CJ, Adler MW, Ganea D, Loftus CM, Jallo JI, Tuma RF, Cannabinoid CB2 receptor activation attenuates motor and autonomic function deficits in a mouse model of spinal cord injury. Clin Neurosurg 55:(172-7)2008

18040812. Ganea D, Gonzalez-Rey E, Delgado M, A novel mechanism for immunosuppression: from neuropeptides to regulatory T cells. J Neuroimmune Pharmacol 1:4(400-9)2006 Dec

17925490. Yen JH, Khayrullina T, Ganea D, PGE2-induced metalloproteinase-9 is essential for dendritic cell migration. Blood 111:1(260-70)2008 Jan 1

17706916. Ganea D, Neuropeptides: active participants in regulation of immune responses in the CNS and periphery. Brain Behav Immun 22:1(33-4)2008 Jan

17665454. Sheibanie AF, Khayrullina T, Safadi FF, Ganea D, Prostaglandin E2 exacerbates collagen-induced arthritis in mice through the inflammatory interleukin-23/interleukin-17 axis. Arthritis Rheum 56:8(2608-19)2007 Aug

17548652. Sheibanie AF, Yen JH, Khayrullina T, Emig F, Zhang M, Tuma R, Ganea D, The proinflammatory effect of prostaglandin E2 in experimental inflammatory bowel disease is mediated through the IL-23-->IL-17 axis. J Immunol 178:12(8138-47)2007 Jun 15

17462790. Liu L, Yen JH, Ganea D, A novel VIP signaling pathway in T cells cAMP-->protein tyrosine phosphatase (SHP-2?)-->JAK2/STAT4-->Th1 differentiation. Peptides 28:9(1814-24)2007 Sep

16888222. Sharma V, Delgado M, Ganea D, VIP protects Th2 cells by downregulating granzyme B expression. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1070:(540-4)2006 Jul

16888178. Fernandez-Martin A, Gonzalez-Rey E, Chorny A, Martin J, Pozo D, Ganea D, Delgado M, VIP prevents experimental multiple sclerosis by downregulating both inflammatory and autoimmune components of the disease. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1070:(276-81)2006 Jul

16888172. Delgado M, Gonzalez-Rey E, Ganea D, Vasoactive intestinal peptide: the dendritic cell --> regulatory T cell axis. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1070:(233-8)2006 Jul

16888171. Delgado M, Chorny A, Ganea D, Gonzalez-Rey E, Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide induces regulatory dendritic cells that prevent acute graft versus host disease and leukemia relapse after bone marrow transplantation. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1070:(226-32)2006 Jul

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Postdoctoral Fellows:

Jui-Hung Yen, PhD

T:  215-707-4336

Email:  jimmyyen@temple.edu  

 

Miguel Garcia Toscano, PhD

T:  215-707-4336

Email:  mtoscano@temple.edu

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