Patrick Swansom, Ph.D.

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Patrick Swanson, Ph.D.

Appointment & Titles | Education | Research Interests | Selected Publications | Contact

Appointment(s) and Titles:

Associate Professor, Medical Microbiology and Immunology
Department of Medicine (secondary appointment) and
Director, Flow Cytometry Core Facility (see http://www.creighton.edu/cytometry/)

Education:

B.S. 1990, Chemistry, St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota
Ph.D. 1995, Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Post-Doctoral Fellow, 1995-1999, Molecular Biology and Genetics, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland

Research Interests:

I am generally interested in mechanisms of immune repertoire diversification. At present, my research program is focused mainly on studying various aspects of V(D)J recombination, the process by which antigen receptor genes are assembled during lymphocyte development. We are currently engaged in three major areas of research: systematically identifying and characterizing protein-DNA complexes involved in the cleavage and joining phases of V(D)J recombination, determining how recurrent targets of illegitimate V(D)J recombination are targeted by the V(D)J recombinase and what reactions are mediated by the recombinase at these sites, and exploring the developmental stage specificity of secondary V(D)J recombination events that occur in response to B cell receptor engagement of self-antigen (receptor editing) or to immunization (receptor revision). These research projects are funded by both intramural and extramural grants, including grants awarded by the National Institutes of Health and the American Cancer Society.

Selected Publications:

P. C. Swanson, B. C. Cooper, G. D. Glick "High Resolution Epitope Mapping of an Anti-DNA Autoantibody Using Model DNA Ligands" J. Immunol. 1994, 152,2601-2612.

P. C. Swanson, C. Ackroyd, and G. D. Glick "Ligand Recognition by anti-DNA Autoantibodies. Affinity, Specificity, and Mode of Binding" Biochemistry 1996, 35, 1624-1633.

P. C. Swanson, R. L. Yung, N. B. Blatt, M. A. Eagan, J. M. Norris, B. C. Richardson, K. J. Johnson and G. D. Glick "Ligand Recognition by Murine anti-DNA Autoantibodies. II. Genetic Analysis and Pathogenicity" J. Clin. Invest. 1996, 97, 1748-1760.

W. Li, P. C. Swanson, and S. Desiderio "RAG-1 and RAG-2-Dependent Assembly of Functional Complexes with V(D)J Recombination Substrates in Solution" Mol. Cell. Biol. 1997, 17, 6932-6939.

P. C. Swanson and S. Desiderio "V(D)J Recombination Signal Recognition: Distinct, Overlapping DNA-Protein Contacts in Complexes Containing RAG-1with and without RAG-2" Immunity 1998, 9, 115-125.

P. C. Swanson, and S. Desiderio "RAG-2 Promotes Heptamer Occupancy by RAG-1 in the Assembly of a V(D)J Initiation Complex" Mol. Cell. Biol. 1999, 19, 3674-3683.

P. C. Swanson "The DDE motif in RAG-1 is contributed in trans to a single active site that catalyzes the nicking and transesterification steps of V(D)J recombination" Mol. Cell. Biol. 2001, 21, 449-458.

P. C. Swanson "Fine structure and Activity of Discrete RAG-HMG Complexes on
V(D)J Recombinant Signals" Mol. Cell. Biol. 2002, 22, 1340-1351.

P. C. Swanson "A RAG-1/RAG-2 Tetramer Supports 12/23-Regulated Synapsis, Cleavage, and Transposition of V(D)J Recombinant Signals" Mol. Cell. Biol. 2002, 22, 7790-7801.

Swanson PC "The bounty of RAGs: recombination signal complexes and reaction outcomes" Immunol. Rev. 2004, 200, 90-114.

S. C. Raghavan, P. C. Swanson, X. Wu, C. L. Hsieh, and M. R. Lieber "A Non-B DNA structure at the bcl-2 major breakpoint region is cleaved by the RAG complex" Nature 2004, 428, 29-31.

P. C. Swanson, D. Volkmer, and L. Wang "Full-length RAG-2, and not full-length RAG-1, specifically suppresses RAG-mediated transposition, but not hybrid joint formation or disintegration" J. Biol. Chem. 2004, 279, 4034-4044.

S. C. Raghavan, P. C. Swanson, M. Yunmei, and M. R. Lieber "Double-Strand Break Formation by the RAG Complex at the Bcl-2 Major Breakpoint Region and at Other Non-B DNA Structures In Vitro" Mol. Cell. Biol. 2005, 25, 5904-5919.

S. Bergeron, T. Madathiparambil, and P. C. Swanson "Both High Mobility Group (HMG)-boxes and the Acidic Tail of HMGB1 Regulate Recombination-activating Gene (RAG)-mediated Recombination Signal Synapsis and Cleavage in Vitro" J. Biol. Chem. 2005, 280, 31314-31324.

Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology
2500 California Plaza • Omaha, Nebraska 68178 • (402) 280-2921