Barbara S. Nikolajczyk, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Microbiology
72 East Concord Street
Office: L516A; 617-638-7019
Lab: L516; 617-638-7164
bnikol@bu.edu

B.S.    The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
Ph.D.  The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

SAM_0191

The Nikolajczyk lab reports the first comprehensive T cell phenotyping in samples from type 2 diabetes patients in the Journal of Immunology (Jagannathan-Bogdan et al., 2011; Vol. 186 pp. 1162-1172). This work goes beyond studies in mouse models of the disease by showing that continuous interaction between T cell and monocytes is required to maintain pro-inflammatory T cell skewing in patients. These results are clinically important because they introduce the idea that immunotherapy may have applicability in treating human type 2 diabetes.

  1. Nikolajczyk, BS, Cortes, M, Feinman, and R, Sen, R. 1997. Combinatorial Determinants of Tissue-Specific Transcription in B Cells and Macrophages. Mol. Cell Biol. 17:3527-3535
  2. Nikolajczyk, BS, and Sen, R. 1999 Stereochemical Considerations of Immunoglobulin Heavy Chain Enhancer Activation. In The Biology-Chemistry Interface. Marcel Dekker Inc., New York.
  3. Nikolajczyk, BS, Sanchez, JA, and Sen, R. 1999. ETS-protein dependent accessibility changes at the immunoglobulin m heavy chain enhancer. Immunity 11:11-20
  4. Nikolajczyk, BS, Dang W, and Sen, R. 1999. Mechanisms of mu enhancer regulation in B lymphocytes. Cold Spring Harb. Symp. Quant. Biol. 64:99-107
  5. Lewis R.T., Andreucci, A. and Nikolajczyk, B.S. 2001. PU.1-mediated transcription is enhanced by HMG-I(Y)-dependent structural mechanisms. J. Biol. Chem. 276:9550-9557
  6. Andreucci,A., Reeves,R., McCarthy,K.M. and Nikolajczyk, B.S. 2002. Dominant-negative HMGA1 blocks mu enhancer activation through a novel mechanism. Biochem. Biophy.Res.Comm. 292:427-433
  7. McCarthy, K.M., McDevit, D.C., Andreucci, A., Reeves, Raymond, and Nikolajczyk, B.S. 2003. HMGA1 co-activates transcription in B cells through indirect association with DNA. J. Biol. Chem. 278:42106-42114
  8. Marecki, S., McCarthy, K.M., and Nikolajczyk, B.S. 2004. PU.1 as a chromatin accessibility factor for immune system genes. Mol. Immunol. 40:723-731
  9. McDevit, D., Perkins, L., Atchison, M.A. and Nikolajczyk, B.S. 2005. The Igk3’ enhancer is activated by gradients of chromatin accessibility and protein association. J. Immunol. 174:2834-2842
  10. Liang, M.D, Zhang, Y., McDevit, D., Marecki, S, and Nikolajczyk, B. 2006. The IL-1beta gene is transcribed from a poised promoter architecture in monocytes.
    J Biol Chem. 2006 Jan 26; [Epub ahead of print]
  11. McDevit, D.C., and B.S. Nikolajczyk. 2006. Changes in immunoglobulin-nucleoprotein complex structure mapped by chromatin immunoprecipitation. Mol Immunol. 43(10):1541-1548
  12. Liang, M.D., Y. Zhang, D. McDevit, S. Marecki, and B.S. Nikolajczyk. 2006. The Interleukin-1beta Gene is Transcribed from a Poised Promoter Architecture in Monocytes. J. Biol. Chem. 281:9227-9237
  13. Nikolajczyk, B. 2006. Regulation of Cytokine Transcription in the Context of Chromatin. Arch. Immunol. 54:299-305.
  14. Nikolajczyk, B.S., S.H. Sardi, J.R. Tumang, and L.M. Ganley-Leal. 2007. Immunoglobulin Kappa Enhancers are Differentially Regulated at the Level of Chromatin Structure. Mol. Immunol. Mar 21; [Epub ahead of print] 
  15. Zhang, Y., S. Saccani, H. Shin, and B.S. Nikolajczyk. 2008. Dynamic protein associations define two phases of IL-1beta transcriptional activation. J. Immunol. 181:503-512.
  16. *Shin, H., Y. *Zhang, M. Jagannathan, H. Hasturk, A. Kantarci, H. Liu, T.E. Van Dyke, L.M. Ganley-Leal, and B.S. Nikolajczyk. 2009. B cells from periodontal disease patients express surface Toll-like Receptor 4. J. Leuk. Biol. 85:648-655.  *equal contribution.
  17. Noronha, A.M., Y. Liang, J.T. Hetzel, H. Hasturk, A. Kantarci, A Stucchi, Y. Zhang, B.S. Nikolajczyk, F.A. Farraye, and L.M. Ganley-Leal. 2009. Hyperactivated B cells in human inflammatory bowel disease. J. Leuk. Biol. 86:1007-1016.
  18. Jagannathan, M., H. Hasturk, Y. Liang, H. Shin, J.T. Hetzel, A. Kantarci, D. Rubin, M.E. McDonnell, T.E. Van Dyke, L.M. Ganley-Leal, and B.S. Nikolajczyk. 2009. TLR cross-talk specifically regulates cytokine production by B cells from chronic inflammatory disease patients. J. Immunol. 183:7461-7470.
  19. Jagannathan, M., M.E. McDonnell, Y. Liang, H. Hasturk, J.T. Hetzel, D. Rubin, A. Kantarci, T.E. Van Dyke, L.M. Ganley-Leal, and B.S. Nikolajczyk. 2010. Toll-like receptors regulate B cell cytokine production in patients with diabetes. Diabetologia 53:1461-1471.
  20. Nikolajczyk, B.S. 2010. B cells as unappreciated mediators of human non-autoimmune inflammatory disease. Cytokine 50:234-242.

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Primary teaching affiliate
of BU School of Medicine