Chris Garcia

Administrative Appointments

• Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (2005 - present)

Postdoctoral Advisees

Jarrett Adams , Priti Bachhawat , Darren Bates , Lauren Ely , Christoph Thomas

Graduate & Fellowship Program Affiliations

• Biophysics
• Immunology
• Microbiology and Immunology
• Structural Biology

Web Site Links

• Personal Web site

Industry Relationships

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Research Interests

My laboratory studies the structural and functional basis of receptor/ligand interactions in systems which are relevant to human health and disease. Our investigations are aimed at understanding the molecular recognition properties governing the interactions of receptors with their ligands, and the subsequent molecular events which couple ligand recognition to receptor activation. Many of the systems we are studying in the laboratory are related to the interaction of the host with the environment. The structural studies are complemented by functional approaches using molecular biology and protein engineering to dissect the structural information, design new or altered proteins with modified specificities and activities, and ultimately contribute to the development of proteins or molecules with therapeutic potential. Molecules currently under study include receptors of the immune system involved in autoimmune disorders (T cell receptors, co-receptors, MHC, cytokines), proteins involved in host-pathogen interactions and molecular mimicry (CMV and Toxoplasma surface antigens), proteins of nervous system (peptide hormone receptors, neural guidance proteins), and membrane proteins (chemokine receptors). An emerging focus of our research is to develop. using combinatorial biology approaches, novel ligands for receptors, which may have altered activities, that may serve as therapeutic starting points.

Publications

• CPDadh: a new peptidase family homologous to the cysteine protease domain in bacterial MARTX toxins. Pei J, Lupardus PJ, Garcia KC, Grishin NV. Protein Sci. 2009; 18 (4): 856-62
• STIM1 clusters and activates CRAC channels via direct binding of a cytosolic domain to Orai1. Park CY, Hoover PJ, Mullins FM, Bachhawat P, Covington ED, Raunser S, Walz T, Garcia KC, Dolmetsch RE, Lewis RS. Cell. 2009; 136 (5): 876-90
• The molecular basis of TCR germline bias for MHC is surprisingly simple. Garcia KC, Adams JJ, Feng D, Ely LK. Nat Immunol. 2009; 10 (2): 143-7
• Structural biology of shared cytokine receptors. Wang X, Lupardus P, Laporte SL, Garcia KC. Annu Rev Immunol. 2009: 27 29-60
• Small molecule-induced allosteric activation of the Vibrio cholerae RTX cysteine protease domain. Lupardus PJ, Shen A, Bogyo M, Garcia KC. Science. 2008; 322 (5899): 265-8