Zhiwei Xu, PhD
Research Assistant Professor
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Dept. of Pathology, Immunology and Laboratory Medicine |
Currently Involved In:
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease and usually considered to be attributable to a combination of environmental and genetic factors. My research interesting focuses on the molecular and cellular basis of genetic susceptibility of autoimmunity initiation and amplification, and end organ damage in lupus pathogenesis, especially using lupus-prone mice as models. My current work is to identify candidate gene in the murine lupus Sle2c1-rec1 sublocus responsible for the decreased IL-2 production by the activated CD4+ T cells, and to elucidate the synergic mechanisms of this sublocus and lpr mutation in reducing Treg cells, enlarging lymph organs and accelerating lupus disease development.