Our Research
Helena Reijonen, PhD
Title:
Research Assistant Member
Email Address:
Phone Number:
206-287-5640
Background
Helena Reijonen received her PhD at the University of Turku in Finland in 1994. She joined Dr. Gerald Nepom’s laboratory at Benaroya Research Institute in 1996 as a post-doctoral fellow. In 2000, she became a JDRF Career Development Awardee, and since 2005 she has been a Research Assistant Member at BRI.
Areas of Research
The precise nature of the T lymphocyte response in Type 1 diabetes, and the regulation of this response, is one of the key barriers to a full understanding of autoimmune predisposition, disease progression and the rational design of T cell immunotherapy. Our research projects aim at improving the understanding of the diversity of the immune cell repertoire that is responsible for the destruction or protection of insulin-producing beta cells.
Selected Publications
Yang J, Danke NA, Berger D, Reichstetter S, Reijonen H, Greenbaum C, Pihoker C, James EA and Kwok WW. Islet-specific glucose-6-phosphatase catalytic subunit-realted protein-reactive CD4+ T cells in human subjects. J Immunol 2006; 176(5):2781-9.
Öling V, Marttila J, Ilonen J, Kwok WW, Nepom GT, Knip M, Simell O and Reijonen H. GAD65- and Proinsulin-Specific CD4+ T-Cells Detected by MHC Class II Tetramers in Peripheral Blood of Type 1 Diabetes Patients and At-Risk Subjects. J Autoimmunity 2005, Nov; 25(3):235-43.
Mallone R, Kochik SA, Reijonen H, Carson B, Ziegler SF, Kwok W and Nepom GT. Functional avidity directs T-cell fate in autoreactive CD4+ T-cells. Blood 2005; 106:2798-2805.
Gebe JA, Masewicz SA, Kochik SA, Reijonen H and Nepom GT. Inhibition of altered peptide ligand-mediated antagonism of human GAD65-responsive CD4+ T cells by non-antagonizable T cells. Eur J Immunol 2004; 34(12):3337-45.
Reijonen H, Heninger A-K, Laughlin EM, Kochik SA, Falk BA, Kwok WW, Greenbaum C and Nepom GT. GAD65 specific CD4+ T cells with high antigen avidity are prevalent in peripheral blood of Type 1 diabetes patients. Diabetes 2004; 53:1987-94.
Mallone R, Kochik SA, Laughlin EM, Gersuk VH, Reijonen H, Kwok WW, Nepom GT. Differential recognition and activation thresholds in human autoreactive GAD-specific T-cells. Diabetes 2004; 53:971-7.
Reijonen H and Concannon P. Genetics of Type 1 Diabetes. In Joslin Diabetes Mellitus, 2004.
Gebe JA, Falk BA, Rock KA, Kochik SA, Heninger A-K, Reijonen H, Kwok WW and Nepom GT. MHC-peptide recognition by self-antigen specific CD4+ T-cells is a low avidity interaction. Eur J Immunol 2003; 33:1409-17.
Reijonen H, Kwok WW and Nepom GT. Detection of CD4+ autoreactive T-cells in T1D using HLA class II tetramers. NYAS 6th IDS: Immunology in Diabetes II, Ann Ny Acad Sci 2003; 1005:82-87.
Reijonen H and Kwok WW. Use of HLA class II tetramers in tracking antigen-specific T-cells and mapping of T-cell epitopes. Methods 2003; 29:282-8.
Buckner JH, Holzer U, Novak EJ, Reijonen H, Kwok WW, Nepom GT. Defining antigen-specific responses with human MHC class II tetramers. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2002; 110:199-208.
Reijonen H, Novak EJ, Kochik S, Heninger A, Liu AW, Kwok WW, Nepom GT. Detection of GAD65 specific T-cells by Major Histocompatibility Complex Class II tetramers in Type 1 diabetic patients and at-risk subjects. Diabetes 2002; 51:1375-82.
Nepom GT, Buckner JH, Novak EJ, Reichstetter S, Reijonen H, Gebe J, Wang R, Swanson E, Kwok WW. HLA class II tetramers: tools for direct analysis of antigen-specific CD4+ T cells. Arthritis Rheum 2002; 46:5-12.
Reijonen H, Daniels TL, Lernmark ?, Nepom GT. GAD65-specific autoantibodies enhance the presentation of an immunodominant T-cell epitope from GAD65. Diabetes 2000; 49:1621-1626.
Reijonen H, Elliott JF, van Endert P, Nepom G. Differential presentation of glutamic acid decarboxylase 65 (GAD65) T cell epitopes among HLA-DRB1*0401 positive individuals. J Immunol 1999; 163:16674-1681.
Kwok WW, Reijonen H, Falk BA, Koelle DM, Nepom GT. Peptide binding affinity and pH variation establish functional thresholds for activation of HLA-DQ-restricted T cell recognition. Hum Immunol 1999; 60:619-626.