Rheumatology & Clinical Immunology
Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology Faculty
Westley H. Reeves, M.D.
M
arcia Whitney Schott Professor of Medicine and Chief,
Division of Rheumatology & Clinical Immunology
AB (Columbia, 1975), MD (Yale 1979)
Residency: Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center (New York, NY)
Fellowship: Rockefeller University
Editorial boards:
Journal of Experimental Medicine; Molecular Biology Reports; Modern Rheumatology; Clinical Immunology; Autoantigens, Autoantibodies, Autoimmunity (Co-Editor); Textbook of the Autoimmune Diseases (Co-Editor)
Advisory panels:
NIH Immunological Sciences Study Section; Secretary/Treasurer, IUIS/WHO/AF/CDC Antinuclear Antibody Standardization Committee; Medical & Scientific Committee and Board of Directors, Arthritis Foundation, Florida Chapter; Program Committee, The Henry Kunkel Society
Area(s) of interest:
Systemic lupus erythematosus, autoantibodies, autoimmunity
Research Description:
Dr. Reeves’ and associates’ research focuses on the mechanisms of autoimmunity in systemic autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), polymyositis, and Sjogren’s syndrome. They have found that the hydrocarbon oil pristane induces a lupus-like syndrome in normal mice characterized by the production of high levels of antinuclear antibodies specific for SLE as well as immune complex-mediated glomerulonephritis and arthritis. Using cytokine knockout mice, they have found that pristane-induced lupus is strongly dependent on IL-6 and interferon-g . The hypothesis that different manifestations of lupus (clinical and serological) result from the overproduction of these and other cytokines is being investigated in patients from the UF Lupus Research Center and in animal models in order to understand the interrelationships between genetic predisposition and environmental triggers of autoimmune disease.
Representative publications:
Satoh M, A Kumar, YS Kanwar, and WH Reeves. Antinuclear antibody production and immune complex glomerulonephritis in BALB/c mice treated with pristane. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 92:10934-10938 (1995).
Richards HB, M Satoh, M Shaw, C Libert, V Poli, and WH Reeves. IL-6 dependence of anti-DNA antibody production: evidence for two pathways of autoantibody formation in pristane-induced lupus. J Exp Med 188:985-990 (1998).
Wang J, X Dong, and WH Reeves. A model for Ku heterodimer assembly and interaction with DNA: implications for the function of Ku antigen. J Biol Chem 273:31068-31074 (1998).
Satoh M, VM Shaheen, PN Kao, T Okano, M Shaw, H Yoshida, HB Richards, and WH Reeves. Autoantibodies define a family of proteins with conserved double-stranded RNA binding domains as well as DNA-binding activity. J Biol Chem 274:34598-34604 (1999).
Satoh M, JP Weintraub, H Yoshida, VM Shaheen, HB Richards, M Shaw, and WH Reeves. Fas and Fas ligand mutations inhibit autoantibody production in pristane-induced lupus. J Immunol 165:1036-1043 (2000).