Alfred Bothwell, PhD

Professor Emeritus of Immunobiology

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Appointments

Immunobiology

Primary, Secondary

Additional Titles

Member of HTI and VBT

About

Titles

Professor Emeritus of Immunobiology

Member of HTI and VBT

Biography

Al Bothwell graduated with an A.B. from Washington University in 1971, got a PhD from Yale in Sidney Altman’s lab in 1975 and then did a postdoc with David Baltimore at MIT where he established the genetic basis of the anti-NP idiotypic antibody response. He has been on the Immunobiology faculty at the Yale Medical School since 1982. He continued studies of B cell antibody diversity and memory and then worked on T cell receptor structure/function and signaling. He also developed the molecular genetics of the Ly6 gene family (aka Sca-1/Ly6A and Ly6C). Increasingly his work has shifted to studies of human immunity with development of humanized mouse models of vascular disease/transplantation, type 1 diabetes and cancer. Studies on gut inflammation in a genetic tumor model and Inflammatory Bowel Disease have lead most recently to contributions concerning wnt signaling to infections and asthma. His studies focus on the remarkable immunoregulatory properties of Wnt signaling that is both canonical and non-canonical and involves direct interaction with platelets.This is a basic mechanism for regulating tissue permeability affecting the mobility of lymphocytes and tumor cells.

Appointments

Immunobiology
Emeritus
Primary
Immunobiology
Immunobiology
Senior Research Scientist
Secondary
Immunobiology

Diabetes Research Center
Fellowship Training
Human and Translational Immunology Program
Immunobiology
Program for Biomedical Ethics
Rheumatic Diseases Research Core
Vascular Biology and Therapeutics Program
WHRY Pilot Project Program Investigators
Women's Health Research at Yale
Yale Cancer Center
Yale Center for Immuno-Oncology
Yale Ventures

Education & Training

Postdoctoral Fellow: MIT (1982)

Postdoctoral Fellow: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (1976)

PhD: Yale University, Biology (1975)

BA: Washington University, Biology Dept. (1971)

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Research

Overview

The research goals of the lab are to characterize the development and function of regulatory T cells and characterize mechanisms that affect autoimmunity, inflammation, transplantation and recruitment into vascular sites. Both mouse and human responses are studied in vitro and in vivo which includes the development and use of humanized mice. In addition, our experience with synthetic microvessels has lead to a translational project to revascularize islets to treat type I diabetes.

Specific accomplishments in the last year:

PPARs: Peroxysome proliferated activated receptors (PPARs) represent a group of transcription factors that are critical in regulating glucose and lipid metabolism. Ligands of PPARg inhibit metabolically induced arteriosclerosis and also prevent the development of inflammatory disorders in several experimental mouse models including EAE, asthma, rheumatic arthritis and sepsis. The role of PPARg in graft arteriosclerosis (GA) has not been characterized. We therefore tested the in vivo effects of administration of the endogenously occurring ligand, 15 deoxy-prostaglandin-J2 (15-d-PGJ2), and ciglitazone and pioglitazone on vascular remodeling of human artery induced by alloreactive PBMC and the IFN-g model. The data indicate that 15-d-PGJ2 and pioglitazone significantly inhibit human GA in our in vivo human arterial graft model in immunodeficient mice. These effects appear specific because they are reversed by treatment with an antagonist, GW9662. Preliminary results suggest that it is possible to reverse disease once it is established for 3 weeks in this model.

Microorgan Islet Grafts: The goal of this project is to bioengineer pancreatic beta cell-containing implants for treatment of diabetes. Casting the islets together with EC in collagen gels effectively revascularizes the islets in SCID/bg mice. Indeed, our pilot data indicate that these human islet-EC microorgans secrete human insulin into the peripheral blood of mice for periods of at least 4 months and demonstrate responsiveness to glucose in glucose tolerance tests. We are characterizing the structure/function properties of these microorgans in detail, including the microvessel structure and the stability of the microvessels with time. During the last year we (with Serge Kobsa and M. Saltzman) are characterizing new nanospheres that have a greater capacity to secrete factors for longer periods of time. We have shown that Hepatocyte Growth Factor (HGF) has significant anti-apoptotic activity on islets in vitro and hope to evaluate this with the new delivery systems in vivo. Inflammation and Colon Cancer: The APC/Min mouse is a highly studied model of intestinal tumorigenesis. During the last year we have shown that APC/Min mice that are deficient in the proinflammatory cytokine IL-17A have a 90% reduction in small intestinal polyps. We hope to define both the source of the IL-17A that is critical as well as the cell type that is the target of this cytokine.