Hermann von Grafenstein, Ph.D., M.D.
Associate Professor of Medicinal and Biological Chemistry,
Pharmacology and Toxicology, Medical Microbiology and Immunology
Department of Medicinal and Biological ChemistryWO 2257, Main Campus
Phone: 419.530.1920
E-mail: hermann.grafenstein@utoledo.edu
Area of Research
Immunology and Structural Biochemistry. The structure and dynamics of MHC-bound antigenic peptides -� computational simulation and experimental tests. Structure- function relationships of cytokine receptors and of Toll-like receptor-associated proteins.
The focus of my research program is on developing a better understanding of how molecules
that generate immune responses are handled by the adaptive and innate immune systems.
Both systems use specific receptors to recognize the molecules they respond to. In
both systems, these molecules are often first bound by proteins other than the specific
receptor that initiates the response. The steps preceding receptor engagement are
known as "antigen presentation". We expect that a better understanding of antigen
presentation is key to a better mechanistic understanding of how inflammatory and
autoimmune diseases develop. Interfering with antigen presentation is a means of preventing
unwanted immune responses and the ability to design antigen mimics that are presented
optimally is important for vaccine development.
Projects in innate immunity: The innate immune system recognizes signature molecules
of pathogenic microorganisms via a set of genetically predetermined and invariant
receptors. Well known receptors in this category are Toll-like receptors 1 though
10. There are only a few innate immune receptors facing a large variety of pathogens.
Not only pathogen-derived molecules can be recognized by innate immune receptors but
also the body's own molecules, especially if they have become modified by disease.
For example, lipids in oxidized low density lipoproteins trigger vascular inflammation
through Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). This is thought to be an early event during the
development of atherosclerosis. It is not clear how a single innate immune receptor
can simultaneously recognize various pathogen-derived as well as self molecules. Our
research is aimed at developing a better understanding of this enigma. Activation
of TLR4 requires that pathogen-derived or self molecules are first bound to Toll-like-receptor
associated proteins, which then "present" the molecules to TLR4. CD14 and MD-2 are
two examples of Toll-like receptor-associated proteins. Determining the structure
of CD14 and MD-2 will shed light on how they interact with each other, how they bind
pathogen- and self-molecules, and how they present these molecules to TLR4. This will
pave the way to interrupting detrimental activation of TLR4 during the development
of inflammatory diseases such as atherosclerosis. For structure determination we use
X-ray crystallography, NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance), and hydrogen-deuterium exchange
in conjunction with mass spectrometry and NMR.
Projects in adaptive immunity: Adaptive immune responses are controlled by antigen-specific
thymus-derived lymphocytes (T cells). T cells recognize antigen not in its native
form, but in the form of small peptides bound to MHC molecules. MHC moleulce present
peptide antigens to T cells. The receptors for these peptide antigens, located on
the surface of T cells, are not genetically predetermined. Rather, the genes for these
receptors are generated during T cell development by randomly assembling genetic elements
coding for pieces of the receptors. Because the repertoire of antigen receptors is
essentially random, it includes self-reactive receptors that need to be eliminated.
In order to reconcile the need to eliminate self reactive T cells and retain the ability
to respond to a vast number of pathogen-derived peptides, the adaptive immune system
has the ability to respond to different peptide-MHC complexes by either activating
the responding T cell or inactivating it, depending on whether the peptide is derived
from self-proteins or from pathogens. Often subtle differences in the structure of
the MHC bound peptides have profound implications for the nature of the T cell response.
Although X-ray crystallography has been valuable in providing structural information,
it generally does not describe dynamic aspects of structure. We are developing alternative
approaches based on computational structure prediction and verification of these predictions
by proton-deuterium-exchange, mass spectrometry, and NMR. A key prediction of our
previous computational studies is that mobile water molecules not only facilitate
binding of different peptides to MHC molecules, but also allow peptides to change
conformation. We are now experimentally verifying these predictions. A detailed knowledge
of peptide-MHC binding will help design peptides that inactivate disease-promoting
T cells and will also be useful for the design of better vaccines.
Members of the laboratory:
Lisa Ficke, graduate student, is working on antigen presentation in the innate immune
system, focusing on X-ray crystal structure determination of human CD14.
Sachin Patil, graduate student, is working on the structure and dynamics of MHC-bound
peptides. He is generating experimental evidence for the existence of mobile water
molecules in the binding interface of peptide-MHC complexes. He does so by using hydrogen-deuterium
exchange, mass spectrometry, NMR, and computational methods.
Sonal Suhane is a rotating graduate student.
Pravin Bhansali is a rotating graduate student
Thomas Cremer, undergraduate student, is working on the effect of oxidized lipids
on Toll-like-receptor-4 activation.
Ermias Gebremichael, undergraduate student, is working with Sachin Patil on the structure
and dynamics of peptide-MHC complexes.
Educational Background
| Ph.D. | 1983 | Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry and University of Konstanz Biophysical Chemistry |
| M.D. | 1982 | University of Munich, Germany |
| M.S. | 1976 | University of Munich, Germany Physics |
Publications and Journals
- Gurlo T, Huang W-W and von Grafenstein H. PGE2 inhibits IL-2 and IL-4 induced proliferation of CTLL-2 and HT-2 cells. Cytokine
10: 265-274, 1998.
- Basu S, Shen J, Elbert K, Okamoto C, Lee VHL and von Grafenstein H. Development and utility of anti-PepT1 anti-peptide polyclonal antibodies. Pharm.
Res. 15: 338, 1998.
- Meng WS, Bhavaraju AV, Haworth IS and von Grafenstein H. Modeling of the non-obese diabetic mouse class II MHC molecule I-Ag7. Prot. Pept.
Lett. 5: 75-82, 1998.
- Bolger MB, Haworth IS, Yeung AK, Ann D, von Grafenstein H. Hamm-Alvarez S, Okamoto CT, Kim KJ, Basu SK, Wu S and Lee VHL. Structure, function,
and molecular modeling approaches to the study of the intestinal dipeptide transporter
PepT1. J. Pharm. Sci. 87(11): 1286-1291, 1998.
- Yeung AK, Basu SK, Wu SK, Ann DK, Haworth IS, Bolger MB, Hamm-Alvarez S, Okamoto CT, von Grafenstein H. Shen W-C, Kim K-J and Lee VHL. Tyrosine 167 in the human intestinal proton-coupled
dipeptide transporter (hPepT1) is essential for glycyl sarcosine uptake. Biochem.
Biophys. Res. Comm. 250(1): 103-107, 1998.
- Gurlo T, Kawamura K and von Grafenstein H. Role of inflammatory infiltrate in activation and effector function of cloned islet-reactive
NOD CD8+ T cells: Involvement of a nitric oxide dependent pathway J. Immunol. 163:
5770-5780, 1999.
- Gurlo T, Meng WS, Bui H-H, Haworth IS and von Grafenstein H. Experimental evidence for the presence of a water network at the peptide-MHC interface.
Immunol. Lett. 70(3): 139-141, Dec. 1999.
- Liu Z, Gurlo T and von Grafenstein H. Cell-ELISA using beta-galactosidase conjugated antibodies. J. Immunol. Meth. 234/1-2:
153-167, 2000.
- Ganapathy V, Gurlo T, Jarstadmarken H and von Grafenstein H. Regulation of IFN-gamma release from islet reactive NOD CD8+ T cells by PGE2 receptor
signaling. Int. Immunol. 12(6): 851-860, 2000.
- Meng W, von Grafenstein H.and Haworth I. Water dynamics at the binding interface of four different HLA-A2/peptide
complexes. Int. Immunol. 12(7): 949-957, 2000.
- Gurlo T and von Grafenstein H. Antigen-independent cross-talk between macrophages and CD8+ T cells facilitates their
cooperation during islet destruction. Int. Immunol., 15(9): 1063-1071, 2003.
- Huynh-Hoa T. Bui, Alexandra J. Schiewe, Hermann von Grafenstein, and Ian S. Haworth. Structural Prediction of Peptides Binding to MHC Class I Molecules.
Proteins 63(1), 43 - 52, 2006.
- Mohammad. K. Mohammad, Brandon Slotterbeck, Michael Morran, Douglas W. Leaman, Hermann von Grafenstein, Soon-Cheol Hong, and Marcia F. McInerney. Dysregulated Toll Like Receptors in Bone Marrow Derived Macrophages at the Onset of Diabetes in the Nonobese Diabetic Mouse. Int. Immunol. (in press 2006).