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CHERIE A SINGER, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor
Ph.D., University of Washington 1998
Location: Howard 217
Email: csinger medicine.nevada.edu
Tel: 775 784-8253
Fax: 775 784-1620
Research Interests
Regulation of inflammatory gene expression in airway smooth muscle cells
The inflammatory response of the airway is a coordinated effort involving recruitment and activation of immune cells that communicate with the surrounding respiratory epithelium and smooth muscle. Airway smooth muscle cells contribute to this inflammatory response through synthesis and secretion of a variety of chemical mediators and defining the signal transduction pathways regulating these responses is an area of active interest. My research is focused on examining the signal transduction pathways regulating airway smooth muscle gene expression and cytokine production in response to inflammatory stimuli in collaboration with Dr. William T. Gerthoffer. This work has focused on the role of ERK and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases in regulating inflammatory gene expression at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels.
Expression of T-box transcription factor T-bet and regulation by JAK-STAT signaling in airway smooth muscle
T-bet has been identified as a T cell-specific transcription factor involved in differentiation of T helper cells and production of inflammatory mediators. Expression of T-bet is reduced in T cells from asthmatic patients and mice lacking the T-bet gene develop asthma-like changes attributed to alterations in the airway inflammatory response. These observations suggest T-bet may be involved in mediating the expression of inflammatory genes in airway tissues, although T-bet has not been identified in non-immune cells. I am currently interested in testing the hypothesis that T-bet is involved in mediating the inflammatory response of human airway smooth muscle through activation of JAK-STAT signaling pathways.
View the publications of Dr Singer on PubMed
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