Cory Teuscher, Ph.D.
Professor of Medicine & Pathology
Research Program: Cell Signaling & Growth Control
VCC Membership Level: Affiliate Member
Contact Information
C317 Given Building
89 Beaumont Avenue
University of Vermont
Burlington, VT 05405
ph: (802) 656-3270
f: (802) 656-3854
C.Teuscher@uvm.edu
Biography
Dr. Teuscher earned his Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of New Mexico.
Research
The major focus of the research effort in my laboratory is the identification and characterization of non-classical immune response genes controlling susceptibility and resistance to immunopathologically mediated diseases. These include murine models of both infectious and autoimmune disease. The overall strategy is to use forward genetics to identify genes of interest. With respect to infectious diseases, we have mapped loci that control the quantitative variation in a number of the component phenotypes seen in murine Lyme disease. Similarly, we have identified quantitative trait loci (QTL) which govern phenotypic variation in a number of traits associated with Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis induced demyelination, an infectious disease model for multiple sclerosis (MS).
The autoimmune disease models that we study are experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE), experimental allergic orchitis (EAO), and day three thymectomy induced autoimmune ovarian dysgenesis (AOD). For each of these models we have identified a large number of QTL many of which co-localize with genetic regions implicated in other autoimmune disease models. This lead us to hypothesize that there may be both common and disease-specific loci that regulate susceptibility to immunopathologically mediated phenotypes. This was proven true for Bphs, an autoimmune disease susceptibility gene implicated in both EAE and EAO when it was identified as histamine H1 receptor. Bphs/Hrh1 controls both the induction and effector phases of the disease process. Similar studies are underway for the major QTL that we have mapped to date for both the infectious and autoimmune disease models under investigation.
Recent Publications
Noubade R, del Rio R, McElvany B, Zachary JF, Milward JM, Wagner DD, Offner H, Blankenhorn EP, Teuscher C. Von-Willebrand Factor influences blood brain barrier permeability and brain inflammation in experimental allergic encephalomyelitis. Am J Pathol. 2008 Aug 7
Rogers SW, Weis JJ, Ma Y, Teuscher C, Gahring LC. Mouse chromosome 11 harbors genetic determinants of hippocampal strain-specific nicotinic receptor expression. Hippocampus. 2008 Jun 4;18(8):750-757.
Lu C, Pelech S, Zhang H, Bond J, Spach K, Noubade R, Blankenhorn EP, Teuscher C. Pertussis toxin induces angiogenesis in brain microvascular endothelial cells. J Neurosci Res. 2008 May 23.
Noubade R, Saligrama N, Spach K, Del Rio R, Blankenhorn EP, Kantidakis T, Milligan G, Rincon M, Teuscher C. Autoimmune disease-associated histamine receptor H1 alleles exhibit differential protein trafficking and cell surface expression. J Immuol. 2008 Jun 1;180(11):7471-9.
del Rio R, Noubade R, Subramanian M, Saligrama N, Diehl S, Rincon M, Teuscher C. (2008) SNPs upstream of the minimal promoter control IL-2 expression and are candidates for the autoimmune disease susceptibility locus Aod2/Idd3/Eae3. Genes and Immunity. 2008 Mar 9(2):115-21.
Teuscher C, Subramanian M, Noubade R, Gao JF, Offner H, Zachary JF, Blankenhorn EP. Central histamine H3 receptor signaling negatively regulates susceptibility to autoimmune inflammatory disease of the CNS. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Jun 12;104(24):10146-51.
Noubade R, Milligan G, Zachary JF, Blankenhorn EP, Del Rio R, Rincon M, Teuscher C. Histamine receptor H(1) is required for TCR-mediated p38 MAPK activation and optimal IFN-gamma production in mice. J Clin Invest. 2007 Nov 1;117(11):3507-3518.
Teuscher C, Noubade R, Spach K, McElvaney B, Bunn JY, Fillmore PD, Zachary JF, Blankenhorn EP. (2006) Evidence that the Y-Chromosome Influences Autoimmune Disease in Male and Female Mice. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA (USA) 103:8024.
