Elizabeth Mellins

Clinical Focus

• Pediatric Rheumatology
• Rheumatology, Pediatric

Administrative Appointments

• Advisory Board, Nature, Clinical Practice Rheumatology (2005 - present)
• Developer and co-Director, Introduction to Medicine for PhDs, Stanford School of Medicine (2001 - present)
• Member, Medical and Scientific Advisory Council, Arthritis Foundation (national) (2003 - 2006)
• Member,CMB-I StudySection, NIAID, NIH (2002 - 2007)

Honors and Awards

• Within Our Reach grant recipient, ACR Research & Education Fund (2007)
• Distinguished Service Award, American Association of Immunologists (2005)

Professional Education

• Board Certification: General Pediatrics, American Board of Pediatrics (1983)
• Fellowship: University of Washington Medical Center, WA USA (1982)
• Residency: University of Washington Medical Center, WA USA (1981)
• Residency: University of Colorado Health Science Center, CO (1980)
• Medical Education: Harvard Medical School, MA (1978)

Postdoctoral Advisees

Henriette MacMillan, Narendiran Rajasekaran, Nan Wang, Taejin Yoon

Graduate & Fellowship Program Affiliations

• Cancer Biology
• Immunology
• Pediatrics

Community & International Work

• Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance 

Research Interests

Our lab focuses on the study of antigen presentation by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules. We have been particularly interested in the molecular mechanisms and intracellular steps involved in the generation of complexes between MHC class II molecules and peptides. Our work in this area has elucidated the roles of invariant chain and HLA-DM,
two molecules which regulate peptide-loading of class II molecules. In addition, we have investigated the molecular basis of HLA-DR4 association with rheumatoid arthritis. Ongoing
studies deal with:

1. Analysis of the biosynthesis, structure, and structure/function relationships of the HLA-DM and HLA-DO molecules.
2. Regulation of class II biosynthesis in professional antigen presenting cells.
3. Mechanistic basis of HLA allele association with autoimmune disease
4.Pathogen evasion of the class II pathway.

Publications

• Human cytomegalovirus alters localization of MHC class II and dendrite morphology in mature Langerhans cells. Lee AW, Hertel L, Louie RK, Burster T, Lacaille V, Pashine A, Abate DA, Mocarski ES, Mellins ED "J Immunol" 2006 ; 6 (177) : 3960-71
• Human dendritic cell expression of HLA-DO is subset specific and regulated by maturation. Hornell TM, Burster T, Jahnsen FL, Pashine A, Ochoa MT, Harding JJ, Macaubas C, Lee AW, Modlin RL, Mellins ED "J Immunol" 2006 ; 6 (176) : 3536-47
• Achieving stability through editing and chaperoning: regulation of MHC class II peptide binding and expression. Busch R, Rinderknecht CH, Roh S, Lee AW, Harding JJ, Burster T, Hornell TM, Mellins ED "Immunol Rev" 2005 : (207) : 242-60
• Posttranslational regulation of I-Ed by affinity for CLIP. Rinderknecht CH, Belmares MP, Catanzarite TL, Bankovich AJ, Holmes TH, Garcia KC, Nanda NK, Busch R, Kovats S, Mellins ED "J Immunol" 2007 ; 9 (179) : 5907-15
• Influenza A virus elevates active cathepsin B in primary murine DC. Burster T, Giffon T, Dahl ME, Björck P, Bogyo M, Weber E, Mahmood K, Lewis DB, Mellins ED "Int Immunol" 2007 ; 5 (19) : 645-55