Eddie James, PhD
Background Information
Dr. James received his bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Colorado. He subsequently attended Washington State University, receiving his PhD in Biochemical Engineering in 2001. After completing an internship at Zymogenetics, he joined the Benaroya Research Institute as manager of the tetramer core and is currently a BRI assistant member.
Area of Research
Dr. James leads several independent research projects related to the role of T cells in autoimmune disease. These projects include a JDRF funded study to investigate the role of protein modifications in the development of destructive immune responses in type 1 diabetes and a cooperative JDRF project aimed at understanding immunologic reasons why some patients with type 1 diabetes rapidly lose all ability to produce insulin while others retain some residual insulin secretion. He also collaborates with Dr. John Piganelli and Dr. Meghan Marre of the University of Pittsburgh and Dr. Chantal Mathieu and Lut Overbergh to investigate how beta cell stress contributes to the breakdown of tolerance in autoimmune diabetes and with Dr. Bill Kwok to study activated T cells in subjects at risk of developing type 1 diabetes. Dr. James is currently co-chair of the JDRF biomarker working group and co-leads the Immunology of Diabetes Society T Cell Workshop. Under the auspices of these groups, he leads biomarker development and validation projects aimed at improved disease staging of subjects who are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.
Dr. James participates in collaborative projects with Dr. Jane Buckner and colleagues at the University of Colorado aimed at characterizing T cell responses in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and investigating mechanisms that promote the breakdown of tolerance in at risk subjects. He is also involved in various other collaborative research projects, applying tetramer technology to identify the chemical patterns recognized by T cells in desirable protective immune responses directed against viruses (such as influenza, tetanus, and chicken pox) and in undesirable destructive immune responses directed against therapeutic proteins (including insulin and Factor VIII) and self-proteins in diseases such as IBD and pemphigus vulgaris. The unifying theme of this work is that understanding the basics of immune recognition and the specifics of both immune protection and immune destruction will lead to better diagnostic tools and better therapies.
Featured Publications
James EA, Kwok WW, Ettinger RA, Thompson AR, Pratt KP. “T-cell responses over time in a mild hemophilia A inhibitor subject: epitope identification and transient immunogenicity of the corresponding self-peptide.” J Thromb Haemost. 2007 5:2399-407.
James EA, Moustakas AK, Bui J, Papadopoulos GK, Bondinas G, Buckner JH, Kwok WW. DR1001 presents 'altered-self' peptides derived from joint associated proteins by accepting citrulline in three of its binding pockets. Arthritis Rheum. 2010 Oct;62(10):2909-18. PMC2952065
James EA, van Haren SD, Ettinger RA, Fijnvandraat K, Liberman JA, Kwok WW, Voorberg J, Pratt KP. T-cell responses in two unrelated hemophilia A inhibitor subjects include an epitope at the factor VIII R593C missense site. J Thromb Haemost. 2011 Apr;9(4):689-99. doi: 10.1111/j.1538-7836.2011.04202.x. PMID:21251204
James EA, Devoti JA, Rosenthal DW, Hatam LJ, Steinberg BM, Abramson AL, Kwok WW, Bonagura VR. Papillomavirus-specific CD4+ T cells exhibit reduced STAT-5 signaling and altered cytokine profiles in patients with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis. J Immunol. 2011 Jun 1;186(11):6633-40. PMC3124771
James EA, Kwok WW. Autoreactive CD4(+) T cells in patients with atopic dermatitis. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2011 Jul;128(1):100-1. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2011.05.005. PMID: 21620451
Mattapallil MJ, Silver PB, Mattapallil JJ, Horai R, Karabekian Z, McDowell JH, Chan CC, James EA, Kwok WW, Sen HN, Nussenblatt RB, David CS, Caspi RR. Uveitis-associated epitopes of retinal antigens are pathogenic in the humanized mouse model of uveitis and identify autoaggressive T cells. J Immunol. 2011 Aug 15;187(4):1977-85. Epub 2011 Jul 15. PMC3150271
Kotturi MF, Swann JA, Peters B, Arlehamn CL, Sidney J, Kolla RV, James EA, Akondy RS, Ahmed R, Kwok WW, Buchmeier MJ, Sette A. Human CD8+ and CD4+ T cell memory to lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus infection. J Virol. 2011 Nov;85(22):11770-80. Epub 2011 Sep 7. PMC3209290
Wambre E, DeLong JH, James EA, LaFond RE, Robinson D, Kwok WW. Differentiation stage determines pathologic and protective allergen-specific CD4 T cell outcomes during specific immunotherapy. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2012 Feb;129(2):544-51, 551.e1-7. PMC3268867
James EA, Mallone R, Schloot NC, Gagnerault MC, Thorpe J, Fitzgerald-Miller L, Reichow J, Wagner R, Pham MN, Jospe N, Lou O, Gottlieb PA, Brooks-Worrell BM, Durinovic-Belló I; T-Cell Workshop Committee, Immunology of Diabetes Society. Immunology of Diabetes Society T-Cell Workshop: HLA class II tetramer-directed epitope validation initiative. Diabetes Metab Res Rev. 2011 Nov;27(8):727-36. doi: 10.1002/dmrr.1244. PMID:22069252
Mallone R, Scotto M, Janicki CN, James EA, Fitzgerald-Miller L, Wagner R, Gottlieb P, Thorpe J, Jospe N,Durinovic-Bellò I, Boitard C, Lou O, Dayan CM, Wong FS; T-Cell Workshop Committee, Immunology of Diabetes Society. Immunology of Diabetes Society T-Cell Workshop: HLA class I tetramer-directed epitope validation initiative T-Cell Workshop Report-HLA Class I Tetramer Validation Initiative. Diabetes Metab Res Rev. 2011 Nov;27(8):720-6. doi: 10.1002/dmrr.1243. PMID: 22069251
Chow IT, James EA, Tan V, Moustakas AK, Papadopoulos GK, Kwok WW. DRB1*12:01 presents a unique subset of epitopes by preferring aromatics in pocket 9. Mol Immunol. 2012 Feb;50(1-2):26-34. doi: 10.1016/j.molimm.2011.11.014. PMC3433834
Kwok WW, Tan V, Gillette L, Littell CT, Soltis MA, LaFond RB, Yang J, James EA, DeLong JH. Frequency of epitope specific naïve CD4+ T cells correlates with immunodominance in the human memory repertoire. J Immunol. 2012 Mar 15;188(6):2537-44. PMID:22327072
Arlehamn CS, Sidney J, Henderson R, Greenbaum JA, James EA, Moutaftsi M, Coler R, McKinney DM, Park D, Taplitz R, Kwok WW, Grey H, Peters B, Sette A. Dissecting mechanisms of immunodominance to the common Tuberculosis antigens ESAT-6, CFP10, Rv2031c (hspX), Rv2654c (TB7.7), and Rv1038c (EsxJ). J Immunol. 2012 May 15;188(10):5020-31. PMC3345088
Yang J, James EA, Sanda S, Greenbaum C, Kwok WW. CD4+ T cells recognize diverse epitopes within GAD65: implications for repertoire development and diabetes monitoring. Immunology 2013 Mar;138(3):269-79. doi: 10.1111/imm.12034. PMC3573280
Lindestam Arlehamn CS, Gerasimova A, Mele F, Henderson R, Swann J, Greenbaum JA, Kim Y, Sidney J, James EA, Taplitz R, McKinney DM, Kwok WW, Grey H, Sallusto F, Peters B, Sette A. Memory T cells in latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection are directed against three antigenic islands and largely contained in a CXCR3(+)CCR6(+) Th1 subset. PLoS Pathog. 2013 Jan;9(1):e1003130. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1003130. PMC3554618
Long HM, Chagoury OL, Leese AM, Ryan GB, James E, Morton LT, Abbott RJ, Sabbah S, Kwok W, Rickinson AB. MHC II tetramers visualize human CD4+ T cell responses to Epstein-Barr virus infection and demonstrate atypical kinetics of the nuclear antigen EBNA1 response. J Exp Med. 2013 May 6;210(5):933-49. doi: 10.1084/jem. PMC3646497
Chow I-T, James EA, Gates TJ, Tan V, Moustakas AK, Papadopoulos GK, Kwok WW. Differential binding of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex-E2 epitopes by DRB1*08:01 and DRB1*11:01 is predicted by their structural motifs and correlates with disease risk. J Immunol. 2013 May 1;190(9):4516-24. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1202445. PMID: 23543758
Yang J, James E, Gates TJ, DeLong JH, LaFond RE, Malhotra U, Kwok WW. CD4+ T cell recognize unique and conserved 2009 H1N1 hemagglutinin epitopes after natural infection and vaccination. Inter Immunol. 2013 Mar 22. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 23524391
