Department of Immunology
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David J. Rawlings
David J. Rawlings, M.D. 

Children's Guild Association Endowed Chair
in Pediatric Immunology 
Director, Center for Immunity and Immunotherapies
Seattle Children's Research Institute 
Chief, Division of Immunology 
Children's Hospital
Adjunct Professor, Immunology
University of Washington School of Medicine 

Department of Pediatrics
University of Washington
Seattle Children’s Research Institute
1900 Ninth Avenue
UW Box 359300 -- C9S-7
Seattle, WA 98101
Tel 206-987-7319
Fax 206-987-7310
Email: drawling@u.washington.edu

Rawlings Lab Members

The Rawlings lab is currently accepting new graduate students.

Dr. Rawlings graduated Magna Cum Laude in Biological Sciences from Davidson College, and received his M.D. from the University of North Carolina. He completed residency and chief residency in pediatrics at UCSF, and Pediatric Rheumatology/Immunology subspecialty training at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. He pursued post-doctoral research as an intramural fellow at the NIH and in the HHMI, UCLA. Formerly a member of the UCLA faculty, Dr. Rawlings joined the University of Washington as the Head, Section of Pediatric Immunology in 2001, and now directs the Center for Immunity and Immunotherapies at the Seattle Children’s Hospital Research Institute. Dr. Rawlings is also chief of the Division of Immunology, overseeing the immunodeficiency clinic at Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle. Dr. Rawlings has received numerous awards and was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 2001 and the Association of American Physicians in 2007.

Dr. Rawlings’ primary research interests include dysregulated B cell development and signaling leading to immunodeficiency, autoimmunity or lymphoid malignancies, and the development of gene therapy for primary immune deficiency diseases. His laboratory uses expertise in basic and clinical immunology, signal transduction and lymphocyte developmental biology to understand how altered signals can lead to immunologic disease, with the ultimate goal of developing translational therapies capable of specifically modulating these disorders. Dr. Rawlings is a member of multiple regional and national organizations, an NIH study section member, chairman for the USIDNET XLA patient registry, and ad hoc reviewer for various grant programs and immunology journals. He also co-directs the Northwest Genome Engineering Consortium, a research program funded as part of the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research and comprised of seven collaborative projects focused on developing enzymatic reagents and delivery methods for site specific gene repair in hematopoietic stem cells.

Current project areas include:

I). Lymphocyte signal transduction. B cell antigen receptor (BCR) engagement generates a multi-component complex of signaling effectors, or "signalosome", that simultaneously trigger both positive and negative signals. The response to receptor engagement depends on the convergence of these signals. Two critical signals regulated by this "signalosome" include: a.) the sustained intracellular calcium signal; and b.) activation of NFκB-mediated survival signals. Our work has focused on the biochemical events regulating these signals. Our current studies include biochemical analysis of tyrosine kinases, adapter proteins, and lipid enzymes; and use of various animal models to evaluate the developmental consequences of altered expression of these proteins.

II). Gene Therapy for primary immunodeficiency disorders. The past decade has witnessed tremendous progress in linking deficient function of signaling effectors with specific primary immunodeficiency disorders (PIDD). The non-receptor tyrosine kinase, Btk, is mutated in the primary B lineage immunodeficiency disease X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA in humans and in X-linked immunodeficiency, XID in mice). Similarly, mutation of the Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome protein (WASp) leads to a multilineage immunodeficiency in humans and mice. Because of the selective advantage for gene corrected cells, these disorders represent excellent targets for stem cell-based gene therapy. We have developed lineage specific viral systems for use in hematopoietic stem cells. We are also evaluating the capacity of Homing endonucleases (HEs) to facilitate genetic repair of the mutant loci in animal models of immunodeficiency. Our ongoing includes analysis of reconstitution function in mutant mice, and human multipotent stem cells in vitro and in vivo. The laboratory is strongly committed to moving from preclinical studies into translational trials of clinical gene therapy for patients with primary immunodeficiency disorders.

III). Modeling normal and altered lymphopoiesis. We have developed unique (human and murine) in vitro B lineage culture models. These systems aid in identifying the signals that regulate B lymphopoiesis and B cell activation. We are utilizing these in vitro models, in conjunction with animal-based approaches (transgenic, knockout, and RNA interference) to model B lineage development and B lymphoid malignancies. Current studies include analysis of Thymic stromal lymphopoeitin-receptor (TSLP), Toll, Notch, and BAFF-receptor signaling cascades in the generation of peripheral B cell subsets; and analysis of the PKCβ/NFκB/PKD pathways in the development or progression of lymphoma.

Graduate/MD-PhD students currently training in the Rawlings lab include: Alexander Astrakhan,
Ashok Bandaranayake, and Marc Schwartz.

Representative publications on "Lymphocyte signal transduction" include:

Scharenberg AM, Humphries LA, and Rawlings DJ. Calcium signalling and cell-fate choice in B cells. (2007) Nat Rev Immunol. 7(10):778-789.

Rawlings DJ, Sommer K, Moreno- García ME. The CARMA1 signalosome links the signalling machinery of adaptive and innate immunity in lymphocytes. (2006) Nat Rev Immunol 6(11):799-812.

Gomez TS, McCarney SD, Carrizosa E, Labno CM, Comiskey EO, Nolz JC, Zhu P, Freedman BD, Clark MR, Rawlings DJ, Billadeau DD, Burkhardt JK. HS1 Functions as an Essential Actin-Regulatory Adapter Protein at the Immune Synapse. (2006) Immunity 24:1-12.

Sommer K, Guo B, Pomerantz JL, Bandaranayake AD, Moreno-Garcia ME, Ovechkina YL, Rawlings DJ. Phosphorylation of the CARMA1 Linker Controls NF-κB Activation. (2006) Immunity 23 (6): 561-574.

Humphries LA, Dangelmaier C, Kato RM, Griffith N, Irene Bakman I, Christoph W. Turk CW, Daniel JL, Rawlings DJ. Tec kinases mediate sustained calcium influx via site-specific tyrosine phosphorylation
of the PLCg SH2-SH3 linker. (2004) J Biol Chem 279(36):37651-37661.

Rawlings DJ. The biology and biochemistry of inflammatory signolosomes. (2006) EMBO Reports 7 (1): 25-30.

Guo B, Su TT, Rawlings DJ. PKC family functions in B cell activation. (2004) Curr Opin Immunol 16(3):367-373.

Saito K, Tolias KF, Saci A, Koon HB, Humphries LA, Scharenberg A, Rawlings DJ, Kinet J-P, Carpenter CL. Btk regulates PtdIns-4,5-P2 synthesis: importance for calcium signaling and PI3K activity. (2003) Immunity 19:669-678.

Su TT, Guo B, Chae K, Kawakami Y, Chae K, Kato RM, Kang SW, Patrone L, Wall R, Teitell MA, Leitges M, Kawakami T, Rawlings DJ. PKCb controls IkB kinase (IKK) lipid raft recruitment and activation in response to BCR signaling. (2002) Nature Immunol 3:780-786.

Kang SW, Wahl MI, Leitges M, Tarakhovsky A, Tabuchi R, Kato R, Turck CW, Kawakami T, Witte ON, Rawlings DJ PKCb modulates antigen receptor signaling via regulation of Btk membrane localization. (2001) EMBO 20:5692-5702.

Guo B, Kato RM, Garcia-Lloret M, Wall M and Rawlings DJ: Engagement of the human pre-B cell receptor (pre-B) generates a lipid raft-dependent calcium signaling complex. (2000) Immunity 13:243-253.

Rawlings DJ, Scharenberg AM, Park H, Wahl MI, Lin S, Kato RM, Fluckiger A-C, Witte ON, Kinet J-P: Activation of Btk by a phosphorylation mechanism initiated by src family kinases. (1996) Science 271:822-825.

Rawlings DJ, Saffran DC, Tsukada S, Largaespada DA, Grimaldi JC, Cohen L, Mohr RN, Bazan JF, Howard M, Copeland NG, Jenkins NA and Witte ON: Mutation of the BPK tyrosine kinase unique region in X-linked immunodeficiency. (1993) Science 261:358-361.

II) Representative publications on "Gene therapy for primary immunodeficiency disorders" include:

Peng B, Ye P, Blazar BR, Freeman GJ, Rawlings DJ, Ochs HD, Miao CH. Transient blockade of the inducible costimulator pathway generates long-term tolerance for factor VIII following nonviral gene transfer into hemophilia A mice.  (2008) Blood. [Epub ahead of print].

Notarangelo LD, Rawlings DJ, Sullivan KE. An exemplum of XLA. (2007) Clin Immunol. 126(2):137-139.

Miao CH, Ye P, Thompson AR, Rawlings DJ, Ochs HD. Immunomodulation of transgene responses following naked DNA transfer of human factor VIII into hemophilia A mice. (2006) Blood 108(1):19-27.

Humblet-Baron S, Anover S, Kipp K, Zhu Q, Ye P, Zhang W, Ovechkina Y, Khim S, Astrakhan A, Strom T, Kohn D, Candotti F, Vyas Y, Ochs H, Miao C, Rawlings D. Lentiviral vector-mediated gene therapy as treatment for Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome (WAS): Pre-clinical studies in human cell lines and WASp -/- mice. (2005) Molecular Therapy 11(1):S133.

Scharenberg AM, Rawlings DJ, Monnat RJ, Stoddard BL. Engineering and development of I-AniI homing endonucleases for gene correction applications. (2005) Molecular Therapy 11(1): S405.

Yu PW, Tabuchi RS, Kato RM, Astrakhan A, Chae K, Ellmeier W, Witte ON, Rawlings DJ. Sustained correction of B cell development and function in a murine model of X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA) using retroviral gene transfer. (2004) Blood 104(5):1281-1290.

Rawlings DJ. Bruton's tyrosine kinase controls a sustained calcium signal essential for B lineage development and function. (1999) Clinical Immunology 91:243-254.

III) Representative publications on "Modeling normal and altered lymphopoiesis" include:

Meyer-Bahlburg A, Andrews SF, Rawlings DJ. Characterization of a late transitional B cell population highly sensitive to BAFF-mediated homeostatic proliferation. (2008) J Exp Med. 205(1):155-168.

Habib T, Park H, Tsang M, de Alborán IM, Nicks A, Wilson L, Knoepfler PS, Andrews S, Rawlings DJ, Eisenman RN, Iritani BM. Myc stimulates B lymphocyte differentiation and amplifies calcium signaling. (2007) J Cell Biol. 179(4):717-731.

Meyer-Bahlburg A, Khim S, Rawlings DJ. B cell intrinsic TLR signals amplify but are not required for humoral immunity. (2007) J Exp Med. 204(13):3095-3101.

Astrakhan A, Omori M, Nguyen T, Becker-Herman S, Iseki M, Aye T, Hudkins-Loya K, Dooley J, Farr A,  Alpers CE, Ziegler S, and Rawlings DJ. Local increase in thymic stromal lymphopoietin induces systemic alterations in B cell. (2007) Nature Immunology 8(5):522-531.

Humblet-Baron S, Sather B, Anover S, Becker-Herman S, Kasprowicz DJ, Khim S, Nguyen T, Hudkins-Loya K, Alpers CE, Ziegler SF, Ochs H, Torgerson T, Campbell DJ, Rawlings DJ. Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein is required for regulatory T cell homeostasis. (2007) J Clin Invest. 1;117(2):407-418.

Evans JG, Chavez-Rueda KA, Eddaoudi A, Meyer-Bahlburg A, Rawlings DJ, Ehrenstein MR, Mauri C. Novel suppressive function of transitional 2 B cells in experimental arthritis. (2007) J Immunol 178(12):7868-7878.

Su TT, Guo B, Wei B, Braun JB, Rawlings DJ. Signaling of transitional type 2 B cells is critical for peripheral B cell development. (2004) Immun Rev 197:167-178.

Hoyer KK, French SW, Turner DE, Nguyen MTN, Renard M, Malone CS, Knoetig S, Qi CF. Su TT, Cheroutre H, Wall R, Rawlings DJ, Morse HC, and Teitell MA. Dysregulated TCL1 Promotes multiple classes of mature B cell lymphoma. (2002) Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 99: 14392-14397.

Su TT, Rawlings DJ. Transitional B lymphocyte subsets operate as distinct checkpoints in murine splenic B cell development. (2002) J. Immunol. 168: 2101-2110.

 

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Updated 11/24/08

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