Roland Strong, Ph.D.
Affiliate Professor, Immunology and Biochemistry

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
A3-025
1100 Fairview Avenue North
Seattle, WA 98109
Tel: 206.667-5587
Fax: 206.667-7730
Email: rstrong@fhcrc.org

Lab page at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Dr. Strong received his bachelors degree in Biophysics from the University of Michigan in 1984. After completing his Ph.D. in Biophysics at Harvard in 1990, Dr. Strong completed is post-doctoral training at the California Institute of Technology. He is a Member in the Division of Basic Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Research Focus: Structural molecular immunology: using biophysical and crystallographic methods to elucidate the role of receptor/ligand interactions in mediating innate immune responses and pathogenesis .

Current Projects:Current projects in the laboratory include: 1) structural and ligand interaction studies of C-type lectin-like NK receptors, gamma-delta and alpha-beta TCRs; 2) siderophore-specific antibacterial responses; and 3) development of novel AIDS vaccine immunogens (see lab link, above, for a current description of active projects).

Representative publications:

Kaiser, B. K., Pizarro, J. C., Kerns, J. & Strong, R. K. (2008) ‘Structural Basis for NKG2A/CD94 Recognition of HLA-E’ Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 105, pp. 6696-701.

McBeth, C., Seamons, A., Pizarro, J. C., Fleishman, S. J., Baker, D., Kortemme, T., Goverman, J. M. & Strong, R. K. (2008) ‘A New Twist In TCR Diversity Revealed By A Forbidden ab TCR’ Journal of Molecular Biology 375, pp. 1306-19.

Kaiser*, B. K., Yim*, D., Chow*, I-T., Gonzales, S., Dai, Z., Mann, H. H., Strong, R. K., Groh, V. & Spies, T. (2007) ‘Disulfide isomerase-enabled shedding of tumour-associated NKG2D ligands’ Nature 447, pp. 482-6

Vigdorovich, V., Miller, A. D. & Strong, R. K. (2007) ‘Ability of Hyaluronidase-2 To Degrade Extracellular Hyaluronan Is Not Required for Its Function as a Receptor for Jaagsiekte Sheep Retrovirus’ Journal of Virology 81, pp. 3124-9.

Kaiser, B. K., Barahmand-pour, F., Paulsene, W., Medley, S., Geraghty, D. E. & Strong, R. K. (2005) ‘Interactions between NKG2x immunoreceptors and HLA-E ligands display overlapping affinities and thermodynamics’ Journal of Immunology 174, pp. 2878-84.

Holmes, M. A., Paulsene, W., Jide, X., Ratledge, C. & Strong, R. K. (2005) ‘Siderocalin (Lcn 2) Also Binds Carboxymycobactins, Potentially Defending against Mycobacterial Infections through Iron Sequestration’ Structure 13, pp. 29-41,

Flo, T. H., Smith, K. D., Sato, S., Rodriguez, D. J., Holmes, M. A., Strong, R. K., Akira, S. & Aderem, A. (2004) 'Lipocalin 2 mediates an innate immune response to bacterial infection by sequestrating iron' Nature 432, pp. 917-21

McFarland, B. J. & Strong, R. K. (2003) 'Thermodynamic Analysis of Degenerate Recognition by the NKG2D Immunoreceptor: Not Induced Fit but Rigid Adaptation' Immunity 19, pp. 803-12

McFarland, B. J., Kortemme, T., Yu, S. F., Baker, D. A. & Strong, R. K. (2003) 'Symmetry recognizing asymmetry: analysis of the interactions between the C-type lectin-like immunoreceptor NKG2D and MHC class I-like ligands' Structure 11, pp. 411-22

Strong, R. K., Holmes, M. A., Li, P., Braun-Jones, L., Lee, N. & Geraghty, D. E. (2003) 'HLA-E allelic variants: correlating differential expression, peptide affinities, crystal structures and thermal stabilities' Journal of Biological Chemistry 278, pp. 5082-90

Goetz, D. H., Holmes, M. A., Borregaard, N., Bluhm, M. E., Raymond, K. N. & Strong, R. K. (2002) 'The Neutrophil Lipocalin NGAL is a Bacteriostatic Agent that Interferes with Siderophore-mediated Iron Acquisition' Molecular Cell 10, pp. 1033-43

Holmes, M. A, Li, P., Petersdorf, E. F. & Strong, R. K. (2002) 'Structural Studies of Allelic Diversity of the MHC Class I Homolog MIC-B, a Stress-Inducible Ligand for the Activating Immunoreceptor NKG2D' Journal of Immunology 169, pp. 1395-400

Li, P., McDermott, G. & Strong, R. K. (2002) 'Crystal Structures of RAE-1b and Its Complex with the Activating Immunoreceptor NKG2D' Immunity 16, pp. 77-86

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Updated 7/13/09