University of Chicago :: Department of Pathology ::

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Vinay Kumar, MBBS, MD, FRCPath

Alice Hogge & Arthur Baer Professor
Chairman, Department of Pathology
Vice Dean, Division of Biological Sciences

Contact

Department of Pathology
The University of Chicago
5841 S. Maryland Ave., MC 3083
Chicago, IL 60637-1470
Telephone: (773) 702-0647
Fax: (773) 702-9379
vkumar@bsd.uchicago.edu

Research Interests

Our laboratory is interested in the cellular and molecular biology of murine natural killer (NK) cells. These cells are believed to act as the first line of defense against tumors and viral infections. In addition they secrete a variety of cytokines including 1FN-g and GM-CSF that can influence the inflammatory response. Two aspects of NK cell biology are of particular interest to us: the development of NK cells from multipotent progenitor cells, and the identification of NK cell receptors and their ligands.

Textbook Publications

1. Kumar V, Mitchell RM, Abbas AK , Fausto N. 2007. Basic Pathology, 8th edition, W.B. Saunders, Philadelphia , PA (with translations into Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Hungarian and Croatian).
2. Mitchell R, Kumar V, Abbas A, Fausto N. Pocket Companion to Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease. Elsevier Saunders, 7th Edition, 2006.
3. Klatt E, Kumar V. Robbins and Cotran Review of Pathology, Elsevier Saunders, 2nd Edition, 2005.
4. Kumar V, Fausto N, Abbas A. Robbins & Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease. Elsevier Saunders, 7th edition, 2004.

Selected Publications

Chlewicki LK, Velikovsky AC, Balakrishman V, Mariuzza RA, Kumar V. Molecular Basis of the Dual Functions of 2B4 (CD244). J. Immunol. 2008; 180: 8159-67.
Alejandro C, Deng L, Chlewicki LK, Fernandez MM, Kumar V , Mariuzza RA. Structure of Natural Killer Receptor 2B4 Bound to CD48 Reveals Basis for Heterophilic Recognition in Signaling Lympocyte Activation Molecule Family. Immunity. 2007 October; 27: 572-84.
Taniguchi RT, Guzior D, Kumar V . 2B4 inhibits NK cell fratricide. Blood First Edition Paper, prepublished online May 30, 2007 DOI 10.1182/ blood -2007-02-076927.
McNerney ME, Kumar V . The CD2 family of natural killer cell receptors. Curr Top Microbiol Immunol. 2006;298:91-120.
McNerney ME, Lee KM, Zhou P, Molinero L, Mashayekhi M, Guzior D, Sattar H, Kuppireddi S, Wang CR, Kumar V , Alegre ML. Role of natural killer cell subsets in cardiac allograft rejection. Am J Transplant. 2006 Mar;6(3):505-13.
Lee KM, Forman JP, McNerney ME, Stepp S, Kuppireddi S, Guzior D, Latchman YE, Sayegh M H, Yagita H, Park CK, Oh S B, Wulfing C, Schatzle J, Mathew PA, Sharpe AH, Kumar V . Requirement of homotypic NK cell interactions through 2B4(CD244)/CD48 in the generation of NK effector functions. Blood. 2005 May; doi:10.1182/blood-2005-01-0185.
McNerney ME, Guzior D and Kumar V. 2B4 (CD255) – CD48 interactions provide a novel MHC class I-independent system for NK cell self-tolerance in mice. Blood. 2005 Aug 15;106(4):1337-40. 2005 May 3.
Kumar V, McNerney ME. A New Self: MHC Class I-Independent NK Cell Self-Tolerance. Nat Rev Immunol. 2005 May;5(5):363-74.
Lee KM*, Forman JP*, McNerney ME*, Stepp S, Kuppireddi S, Guzior D, Latchman YE, Sayegh MH, Yagita H, Park CK, Oh SB, Wulfing C, Schatzle J, Mathew PA, Sharpe AH, Kumar V. Requirement of homotypic NK cell interactions through 2B4/CD48 in the generation of NK effector function. *Co-first authors. Blood. 2005 May 19
Lee KM, McNerney ME, Stepp SE, Mathew PA, Schatzle JD, Bennett M, and Kumar V. 2004. 2B4 Acts As a Non-Major Histocompatibility Complex Binding Inhibitory Receptor on Mouse Natural Killer Cells. J. Exp. Med. May 3; 199(9):1245-1254. [See also commentary, page 1175 same issue]
Lian RH, Chin RK, Nemeth HE, Libby SL, Fu YX, Kumar V. A role for lymphotoxin in the acquisition of Ly49 receptors during NK cell development. Eur J Immunol. 2004 Oct;34(10):2699.

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