“My dad always wanted to be a weather forecaster. He was fascinated by atmospheric changes and studied books on meteorology. As a boy, he taught me a lot about the forces of nature and instilled in me intense curiosity and a sense of wonder that I think eventually led to my career in science.” – Mitchell Kronenberg, Ph.D.
Dr. Kronenberg started at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology in 1997 as Head of the Division Developmental Immunology. In 2003, he was selected to become the Institute's President and now serves as President and Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Kronenberg received his B.S. in biochemistry from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the California Institute of Technology in 1983. From 1986 to 1997, Dr. Kronenberg he served on the faculty of the School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Dr. Kronenberg's research focuses on natural killer T cells (NKT) and their responses to pathogenic bacteria. His laboratory also studies the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel diseases. He is the author of more than 250 publications and is an Institute for Scientific Information “Highly Cited Scientist”.
In 2000, Dr. Kronenberg was named a Roy and Robert Kroc Distinguished Visiting Professor of Immunology and Medicine by the University of California, Davis. In 2002, he was a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Visiting Professor at Harvard University.
Mitchell Kronenberg, Ph.D., and his team study T cells - white blood
cells responsible for recognizing and responding to foreign invaders,
such as microbes. The laboratory focuses on a subset of T cells, that
recognize glycolipids, or combinations of sugar and fat. Their research
seeks to investigate how these T cells, called natural killer T cells
(NKT), survive, grow, and regulate other immune cell types.
NKT cells apparently regulate a variety of immune responses, including
the response to tumors and certain infectious agents. They also assist
in the prevention of autoimmune diseases, such as diabetes (an immune
attack on the pancreas) and multiple sclerosis (an immune attack on the
nerves). The NKT cells respond rapidly and help other cells become
activated. A glycolipid that activates these cells is currently in
clinical trials in Australia, Japan, and Europe for treatment of
metastatic cancer and hepatitis C virus infection.
A second area of research is the development of inflammatory bowel
diseases (IBD) and an immune-mediated disease of the intestine, which
include Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. The uncontrolled
response of white blood cells in the intestine leads to chronic
inflammation. Using experimental models they developed, Dr. Kronenberg
and his team are identifying molecules responsible for causing this
poorly regulated immune response in the digestive tract.
IL-27 Receptor Limits Atherosclerosis in Ldlr-/- Mice. Crc Res. 2012
HVEM signalling at mucosal barriers provides host defence against pathogenic bacteria. Nature. 2012
Intestinal Microbes Affect Phenotypes and Functions of Invariant Natural Killer T cells in Mice. Gastroenterology. 2012
Neutrophilic granulocytes modulate invariant NKT cell function in mice and humans.
J Immunol. 2012
Interplay between carbohydrate and lipid in recognition of glycolipid antigens by natural killer T cells. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2012
Making memory at birth: understanding the differentiation of natural killer T cells.
Curr Opin Immunol. 2012
Glycolipids that elicit IFN-γ-biased responses from natural killer T cells. Chem Biol. 2011
Unique interplay between sugar and lipid in determining the antigenic potency of bacterial antigens for NKT cells. PLoS Biol. 2011
Mucosal memory CD8⁺ T cells are selected in the periphery by an MHC class I molecule.
Nat Immunol. 2011
Cooling the fires of inflammation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U.S.A. 2011
Invariant natural killer T cells recognize glycolipids from pathogenic Gram-positive bacteria.
Nat Immunol. 2011
Invariant NKT cells are required for airway inflammation induced by environmental antigens.
J Exp Med. 2011
Fibrocyte-like cells recruited to the spleen support innate and adaptive immune responses to acute injury or infection. J Mol Med. 2011
Hepatic Stellate Cells Function as Regulatory Bystanders. J Immunol. 2011
Diverse endogenous antigens for mouse NKT cells: self-antigens that are not glycosphingolipids. J Immunol. 2011
Regulation of inflammation, autoimmunity, and infection immunity by HVEM-BTLA signaling.
J Leukoc Biol. 2011
The Vα14 invariant natural killer T cell TCR forces microbial glycolipids and CD1d into a conserved binding mode. J Exp Med. 2010
Antigen-specific cytotoxicity by invariant NKT cells in vivo is CD95/CD178-dependent and is correlated with antigenic potency. J Immunol. 2010
Regulatory T-cell stability and plasticity in mucosal and systemic immune systems. Mucosal Immunol. 2010
Co-receptor choice by V alpha14i NKT cells is driven by Th-POK expression rather than avoidance of CD8-mediated negative selection. J Exp Med. 2010
Regulatory B cells prevent and reverse allergic airway inflammation via FoxP3-positive T regulatory cells in a murine model. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2010
The role of invariant NKT cells at the interface of innate and adaptive immunity. Semin Immunol. 2010
Loss of T cell and B cell quiescence precedes the onset of microbial flora-dependent wasting disease and intestinal inflammation in Gimap5-deficient mice. J Immunol. 2010
A CD1d-dependent antagonist inhibits the activation of invariant NKT cells and prevents development of allergen-induced airway hyperreactivity. J Immunol. 2010
Commensal microbiota and CD8+ T cells shape the formation of invariant NKT cells.
J Immunol. 2010
Lipid binding orientation within CD1d affects recognition of Borrelia burgorferi antigens by NKT cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U.S.A. 2010
Mechanisms for glycolipid antigen-driven cytokine polarization by Valpha14i NKT cells.
J Immunol. 2010
Carbohydrate Moieties as Vaccine Candidates: meeting summary. Vaccine. 2010
T cell intrinsic heterodimeric complexes between HVEM and BTLA determine receptivity to the surrounding microenvironment. J. Immunol. 2009
Transcriptional regulator Id2 controls survival of hepatic NKT cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U.S.A. 2009
Interleukin 10 acts on regulatory T cells to maintain expression of the transcription factor Foxp3 and suppressive function in mice with colitis. Nat Immunol. 2009
The roles of 3' and 4' hydroxy groups in alpha-galactosylceramide stimulation of invariant natural killer T cells. ChemMedChem. 2009
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