Nicholas Zavazava, M.D., Ph.D. (Full Member)
Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Iowa

http://www.int-med.uiowa.edu/Divisions/Allergy/Directory/NicholasZavazava.html

Research Interest    

Dr. Zavazava's laboratory is interested in understanding the interaction of embryonic stem (ES) cell-derived progenitors with the immune system. Specifically, the lab has utilized HOXB4, a homeobox transcription factor to confer self-renewal properties to ES-derived hematopoietic progenitors allowing the induction of long-term mixed chimerism in mice. Recently, the group, for the first time reconstituted immunodeficient mice with ES-derived hematopoietic progenitors and successfully restored immunity to the mice as evidenced by the generation of peptide-specific T cells. In collaboration with Dr. Kai Tan, we are utilizing gene expression arrays and Chip Sequencing techniques to identify binding sites of HOXB4. In other studies, the lab is utilizing Pdx1, a pancreatic transcription factor, to skew the differentiation of ES cells towards insulin producing cells. The lab has successfully treated diabetes in mice using ES-derived insulin producing cells. More recently, the lab is using lenti-and retroviral vectors to reprogram somatic cells into inducible pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells), which potentially could minimize recognition by the immune system in the autologous setting. The pluripotent cells are being utilized to study the generation of human hematopoietic progenitors which are used to study T cell anergy, tolerance and immunity to the influenza vaccine in a humanized mouse model.

Selected Publications

Bonde, S., Pedram, M., Stultz, R. and Zavazava, N. Cell Fusion of Bone Marrow Cells and Somatic Cell Reprogramming by Embryonic Stem Cells. Faseb. J. (in press).

Chan, K.M., Bonde, S., Klump, H. and Zavazava. Hematopoiesis and immunity of HOXB4-transduced embryonic stem cell-derived hematopoietic progenitor cells. BLOOD 111(6):2953-61, 2008.

Bonde, S., Chan, K.M. and Zavazava, N. ES-Cell Derived Hematopoietic Cells Induce Transplantation Tolerance. Plos One, e3212; 2008.

Fändrich, F., Lin, X., Chai, G.X., Schulze, M., Ganten, D., Bader, M., Holle, J., Huang, D-S., Parwaresch T., Zavazava, N., and Binas, B.: Preimplantation-Stage Stem Cells Induce Long-Term Allogeneic Graft Acceptance without Supplementary Host Conditioning. Nature Med. 8:171-178, 2002.

Publications from PubMed