Faculty

AJAY GOPINATHAN, PhD MARCOS GARCIA-OJEDA, PhD
Assistant Professor
School of Natural Sciences

Email: mgarcia-ojeda@ucmerced.edu
Phone: (209)381-4309
Fax: (209)228-
www: Lab website

Education:

B.S. Microbiology, 1990, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
M.A. Biology, 1992, University of California at Santa Cruz
P.h. D. in Immunology, 2002, Stanford University

Research Interests (View)

Stem cells give rise and maintain many tissues. During its life, a stem cell can follow one of three fates: 1) it can self-renew, preserving a constant pool of stem cells in the tissue, 2) it can differentiate into different cell types, or 3) it can die. Signals from the environment, either from other cells or soluble factors, can activate a genetic program within the stem cell, inducing its differentiation into a particular cell type. The activation of a genetic program is mirrored by the silencing of other alternative genetic programs. In this way, the stem cell reaches a point where it is irreversibly committed to a particular cell fate. Using the hematopoietic stem cell as a model, my lab studies the microenvironmental and genetic signals required for stem cell function and lymphocyte development. In particular, we are interested in the role of the transcription factor GATA-3 in the commitment and differentiation of stem cells into T cells.
Representative Publications (View)

  1. Vosshenrich CAJ , GarcíOjeda ME , Samson SI, Pasqueletto V, Enault L, Richard-Le Goff O, Corcuff E, Hendriks RH, Guy-Grand D, Rocha B, Cumano A, Rogge L, Ezine S and Di Santo JP. Gata-3 conditions a thymic pathway of NK cell development characterized by interleukin-7 receptor expression. (Accepted, Nature Immunology).
  2. Caraux A, Bell SE, Zompi S, Ranson T, Lesjean-Pottier S, GarcíOjeda ME , Turner M, Colucci F. Phospholipase C g 2 is essential for NK cell cytotoxicity and innate immunity to malignant and virally infected cells. Blood. 2006 Feb 1; 107(3): 994-1002. Epub 2005 Oct 4.
  3. GarcíOjeda ME , Dejbakhsh-Jones S, Chatterjea-Matthes D, Mukhopadhyay A, Bitmansour A, Weissman IL, Brown JM, Strober S. Stepwise development of committed progenitors in the bone marrow that generate functional T cells in the absence of the thymus. J Immunol. 2005 Oct 1;175(7):4363-73. *First co-author with S. Dejbakhsh-Jones
  4. Chatterjea-Matthes D, GarcíOjeda ME , Dejbakhsh-Jones S, Jerabek L, Manz MG, Weissman IL, Strober S. Early defect prethymic in bone marrow T cell progenitors in athymic nu/nu mice. Journal of Immunology. 2003 Aug 1; 171(3): 1207-15.
  5. Pethig R, Bressler V, Carswell-Crumpton C, Chen Y, Foster-Haje L, GarcíOjeda ME , Lee RS, Lock GM, Talary MS, Tate KM. Dielectrophoretic studies of the activation of human T lymphocytes using a newly developed cell profiling system. Electrophoresis. 2002 Jul; 23(13): 2057-63.
  6. GarcíOjeda ME , Dejbakhsh-Jones S, Chatterjea-Matthes D, Zeng D, Strober S. Clonable progenitors committed to the T lymphocyte lineage in the mouse bone marrow; use of an extrathymic pathway. PNAS USA. 2001 Jun 19; 98 (13): 7455-60. *First co-author with S. Dejbakhsh-Jones.
  7. Zeng D, Lewis D, Dejbakhsh-Jones S, Lan F, GarcíOjeda M , Sibley R, Strober S. Bone marrow NK1.1 - and NK1.1 + T cells reciprocally regulate acute graft versus host disease. Journal of Experimental Medicine. 1999 Apr 5; 189(7): 1073-81.
  8. Hayamizu K, Zeng D, Huie P, GarcíOjeda ME , Bloch DA, Fong L, Engleman EG, Sibley RK, Strober S. Donor blood monocytes but not T or B cells facilitate long-term allograft survival after total lymphoid irradiation. Transplantation, 1998 Sep 15, 66(5): 585-93.
  9. GarcíOjeda ME , Dejbakhsh-Jones S, Weissman IL, Strober S. An alternate pathway for T cell development supported by the bone marrow microenvironment: recapitulation of thymic maturation. Journal of Experimental Medicine, 1998 Jun 1, 187(11): 1813-23. *First co-author with S. Dejbakhsh-Jones.
  10. Katsikis PD, GarcíOjeda ME , Torres-Roca JF, Tijoe IM, Smith CA, Herzenberg LA, Herzenberg LA. Interleukin-1 beta converting enzyme-like protease involvement in Fas-induced and activation-induced peripheral blood T cell apoptosis in HIV infection. TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand can mediate activation-induced T cell death in HIV infection. Journal of Experimental Medicine, 1997 Oct 20, 186(8): 1365-72.
  11. Katsikis PD, GarcíOjeda ME , Torres-Roca JF, Greenwald DR, Herzenberg LA, Herzenberg LA. HIV type 1 Tat protein enhances activation-but not Fas (CD95)-induced peripheral blood T cell apoptosis in healthy individuals. International Immunology, 1997 Jun, 9(6): 835-41.
  12. Katsikis PD, GarcíOjeda ME , Wunderlich ES, Smith CA, Yagita H, Okumura K, Kayagaki N, Alderson M, Herzenberg LA, Herzenberg LA. Activation-induced peripheral blood T cell apoptosis is Fas independent in HIV-infected individuals. International Immunology, 1996 Aug, 8(8): 1311-7.