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 | Medical News Releases > Faculty Experts at Washington University in St. Louis >
Sam J. Levin and Audrey Loew Levin Professor of Research in Arthritis
Expertise: immunity, natural killer cells, tumor immunology, autoimmunity, arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, vasculitis
Bio: Wayne Yokoyama, who is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and chief of the Division of Rheumatology, is a leader in the study of natural killer (NK) cells, immune system cells that are known to kill certain types of tumors. The cells also play a role in the body's defenses against invaders and may be involved in autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and vasculitis. Yokoyama's research program currently focuses on receptors on the surfaces of NK cells that can affect their function, determining, for example, whether they are activated to kill a tumor cell or to produce hormone-like proteins called cytokines that increase resistance to infections.
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Immune system's soldiers get better with experience
Major immune system branch has hidden ability to learn
Jan. 26,
2009 -- Half of the immune system has a hidden talent, researchers at the School of Medicine have discovered. They found the innate immune system, long recognized as a specialist in rapidly and aggressively combating invaders, has cells that can learn from experience and fight better when called into battle a second time. Scientists previously thought any such ability was limited to the immune system's other major branch, the adaptive immune system.
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Staying on top of poxviruses
Poxvirus's ability to hide from the immune system may aid vaccine design
Nov. 15,
2007 -- The cowpox virus, a much milder cousin of the deadly smallpox virus, can keep infected host cells from warning the immune system that they have been compromised, researchers at the School of Medicine have found. The scientists also showed that more virulent poxviruses, such as the strains of monkeypox prevalent in Central Africa, likely have the same ability.
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Appointment announced
Yokoyama named director of Medical Scientist Training Program
July 3,
2007 --
Wayne M. Yokoyama, M.D., is the new director of the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) at the School of Medicine. The appointment went into effect July 1. Students in the program graduate with combined medical and doctoral degrees. The MSTP at Washington University is the largest M.D.-Ph.D. program in the nation with 183 students.
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Prestigious honor
Three faculty members elected to National Academy of Sciences
May 3,
2007 -- Three Washington University scientists are among the 72 members and 18 foreign associates elected to the National Academy of Sciences. Election to the academy is considered one of the highest honors that can be accorded a U.S. scientist or engineer.
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Immune cell actions likened to James Bond
United Press International
and 6 others
Aug. 4,
2005 -- WUSTL scientists led by Wayne Yokoyama have found a group of immune system cells they say resemble James Bond, in that they receive a "license" allowing them to kill invaders.
The "licensing" process apparently helps reduce the chances the cells will erroneously attack the body's own tissues.
The study is detailed in the Aug. 4 issue of the journal Nature.
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