Joyce Rauch, PhD, McGill University

Research in the Rauch laboratory focuses on understanding the induction and pathogenesis of autoantibodies in autoimmune disease, particularly, anti-phospholipid syndrome (APS) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). APS occurs primarily in individuals with SLE, and is defined by the presence of anti-phospholipid antibodies (aPL) plus a clinical event (e.g., thrombosis). However, it is unclear why only some patients with aPL develop clinical events. Dr. Rauch and her collaborators propose that aPL alone are insufficient to cause thrombotic events, and that a concomitant trigger of innate immunity (e.g., toll-like receptor activation) is required. Dr. Rauch's laboratory uses both in vitro and in vivo models to study the role of the innate immune system in the induction and pathogenesis of APS and SLE. Collaborative studies using clinical specimens are also an important component of the research in her laboratory, and complement the studies using murine models.

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References

  1. D'Agnillo P, Levine JS, Subang R, Rauch J. Prothrombin binds to the surface of apoptotic, but not viable, cells and serves as a target of lupus anticoagulant autoantibodies. J Immunol. 2003 Mar 15;170(6):3408-22.
  2. Rauch J, D'Agnillo P, Subang R, Levine JS. Anti-phospholipid antibodies (aPL) and apoptosis: prothrombin-dependent aPL as a paradigm for phospholipid-dependent interactions with apoptotic cells. Thromb Res. 2004; 114(5-6): 371â??382.
  3. Price, B.E., Rauch, J., Shia, M.A., Walsh, M.T., Lieberthal, W., Gilligan, H.M., O'Laughlin, T., Koh, J.S., and Levine, J.S. Antiphospholipid autoantibodies bind to apoptotic, but not viable, thymocytes in a β2-glycoprotein I-dependent manner. J. Immunol. 157: 2201-2208, 1996 (PMID: 8757347)
  4. Subang, R., Levine, J.S., Janoff, A.S., Davidson, S.M.K., Taraschi, T.F., Koike, T., Minchey, S.R., Whiteside, M., Tannenbaum, M., and Rauch, J. Phospholipid-bound β2-glycoprotein I induces the production of anti-phospholipid antibodies. J. Autoimmunity 15: 21-32, 2000 (PMID: 10936025).
  5. Laplante, P., Fuentes, R., Salem, D., Subang, R., Gillis, M.-A., Hachem, A., Farhat, N., Qureshi, S.T., Fletcher, C.A., Roubey, R.A.S., Merhi, Y., Thorin, É., Levine, J.S., Mackman, N., and Rauch, J. Anti-phospholipid antibody-mediated effects in an arterial model of thrombosis are dependent on toll-like receptor 4. Lupus 25, 162-176, 2016 (PMID: 26391610).