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Antonio Pagán
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E-mail:
pagan017@umn.edu
Thesis advisor: Marc
Jenkins
Year entered: 2006
Degree received:
B.S., Molecular/Cell Biology, Haverford College, Haverford,
PA 2004
Honors and awards:
- National Institutes of Health (NIH) Pre-doctoral Immunology
Training Grant, 2008-2009
Thesis research:
I am studying how CD28 signaling shapes the primary
CD4+ T cell response in the body. Ligation of CD28 enhances
CD4+ T cell proliferation, effector function, and survival
upon activation. While the importance of CD28 signaling in
CD4+ T cell activation is well accepted, the precise mechanisms
by which it regulates this process remain unclear. One model
posits that CD28 amplifies signals transduced through the
T cell receptor (TCR), while another proposes that CD28 provides
qualitatively different signals to those from the TCR. I am
addressing this controversy by studying the endogenous, polyclonal
CD4+ T cell response. I am using peptide:Major Histocompatibility
Complex II tetramers and a magnetic enrichment strategy to
track antigen-specific CD4+ T cells in normal and CD28 mutant
mice during the course of a primary immune response. With
this approach, I seek to clarify the mechanisms by which CD28
controls CD4+ T cell immunity in vivo.
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