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Yi-chi Kong, PhD |
| Professor | |
| 7215 Scott Hall | |
| (313) 577-1589 | |
| ykong@med.wayne.edu | |
Yi-chi M. Kong, Ph.D., Professor of Immunology and Microbiology, received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. She spent her first sabbatical leave in 1980 at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, and a second in 1988 at the University of Cambridge, England under the auspices of an NIH Fogarty Senior International Fellowship. She served for five years on the editorial board of Infection and Immunity and for seven years on two NIH study sections. She also served from 1987-99 on the editorial board of Clinical Immunology and Immunopathology, which became Clinical Immunology. She was an American Society for Microbiology Foundation lecturer, a recipient of the WSU Board of Governors Distinguished Faculty Award and WSU Outstanding Service Award. Recent honors include the WSU College Teaching Award and the School of Medicine Alumni Association Lawrence M. Weiner Award in 1998, the School of Medicine Distinguished Service Award in 1999, following service as President of its Faculty Senate, and the President's Exceptional Service Award in 2001.
Her research programs are directed toward understanding the regulatory mechanisms of autoimmune diseases, using a mouse model to examine the hypothyroid syndrome, Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Dr. Kong's overall objectives are to identify the recognitory mechanisms of the immune response to thyroglobulin in initiating thyroid lesions, to determine the suppressor mechanisms on such initiation, and to examine the pathogenic mechanisms of thyroid damage. In genetically susceptible individual, there appears to be a clonal balance between autoreactive T lymphocytes and regulatory T cells. Autoimmune disease results when the balance is tilted toward autoreactive T cell activation with subsequent differentiation of T cells, some of which are cytotoxic, attacking the thyroid. A current thrust is to use human transgenic mice to identify susceptibility genes for Hashimoto's thyroiditis. In conjunction, conserved thyroglobulin determinants and those unique to the human and mouse, as well as the T cell subsets which confer or suppress disease are being delineated to assess their relative contribution to the regulation of autoimmunity. Also understudy is the risk of autoimmune complications after T cell manipulation to enhance tumor immunity, as observed in recent clinical trials.| Kong, Y.M., Flynn, J.C., Banga, J.P. and David, C.S. Application of HLA class II transgenic mice to study autoimmune regulation. Eds. S. McLachlan and B. Rapoport. In: Half A Century after the Discovery of Thyroid Autoimmunity: The Impact of Molecular Biology. Thyroid 17:995-1003, 2007. Medline |
| Flynn, J.C., Gilbert, J.A., Meroueh, C., Snower, D.P., David, C.S., Kong, Y.M. and Banga, J.P. Chronic exposure in vivo to TSH receptor stimulating monoclonal antibodies sustains high thyroxine levels and thyroid hyperplasia in thyroid autoimmunity prone HLA-DRB1*0301 transgenic mice. Immunology, 122:261-267, 2007. Medline |
| Jacob, J.B., Kong, Y.M., Meroueh, C., Snower, D.P., David, C.S., Ho, Y.-S. and Wei, W.-Z. Control of Her-2 immunity and thyroid autoimmunity by MHC and regulatory T cells. Cancer Res. 67:7020-7027, 2007. Medline |
| Flynn, J.C., Meroueh, C., Snower, D.P., David, C.S. and Kong, Y.M. Depletion of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells exacerbates sodium iodide-induced experimental autoimmune thyroiditis in HLA-DR3 (DRB1*0301) transgenic class II-knockout NOD mice. Clin. Exp. Immunol. 147:547-554, 2007. Medline |
| Morris, G.P. and Kong, Y.M. Tolerance to autoimmune thyroiditis: CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells influence susceptibility but do not supersede MHC class II restriction. Frontiers in Bioscience 11:1234-1243, 2006. Medline |
| Morris, G.P. and Kong, Y.M. Interference with CD4+CD25+ T cell-mediated tolerance to experimental autoimmune thyroiditis by glucocorticoid-induced tumor necrosis factor receptor monoclonal antibody. J. Autoimmunity, 26:24-31, 2006. Medline |
| Wei W.Z., Jacob J.B., Zielinski J.F., Flynn J.C., Shim K.D., Alsharabi G., Giraldo A.A., and Kong Y.M. Concurrent induction of antitumor immunity and autoimmune thyroiditis in CD4+ CD25+ regulatory T cell-depleted mice. Cancer Res., 65:8471-8, 2005. Medline |
| Morris G.P., Yan Y., David C.S., Kong Y.M. H2A- and H2E-derived CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells: a potential role in reciprocal inhibition by class II genes in autoimmune thyroiditis. J. Immunol., 174:3111-6, 2005. Medline |
| Miller F., Jones R.F., Jacob J., Kong Y.M., Wei W.-Z. From breast cancer immunobiology to Her-2 DNA vaccine and autoimmune sequelae. Breast Dis., 20:43-51, 2004. Medline |
| Wei W.Z., Morris G.P., Kong Y.M. Anti-tumor immunity and autoimmunity: a balancing act of regulatory T cells. Cancer Immunol. Immunother., 53:73-8, 2004. Medline |
| Flynn J.C., McCormick D.J., Brusic V., Wan Q., Panos J.C., Giraldo A.A., David C.S. and Kong, Y.M. Pathogenic human thyroglobulin peptides in HLA-DR3 transgenic mouse model of autoimmune thyroiditis. Cell. Immunol., 229:79-85, 2004. Medline |
| Flynn J.C., Gardas A., Wan Q., Gora M., Alsharabi G., Wei W.Z., Giraldo A.A., David C.S., Kong Y.M. and Banga J.P. Superiority of thyroid peroxidase DNA over protein immunization in replicating human thyroid autoimmunity in HLA-DRB1*0301 (DR3) transgenic mice. Clin. Exp. Immunol., 137:503-12, 2004. Medline |
| Flynn, J.C., Rao, P.V., Gora, M., Alsharabi, G. Wei, W., Giraldo, A.A., David, C.S., Banga, J.P. and Kong, Y.M. Graves' hyperthyroidism and thyroiditis in HLA-DRB1*0301 (DR3) transgenic mice after immunization with thyrotropin receptor DNA. Clin. Exp. Immunol., 135:35-40, 2004. Medline |
| Morris, G.P., Chen, L. and Kong, Y.M. CD137 signaling interferes with activation and function of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells in induced tolerance to experimental autoimmune thyroiditis. Cell. Immunol., 226:20-29, 2003. Medline |
| Flynn, J.C., Wan, Q., Panos, J.C., McCormick, D.J., Giraldo, A.A., David, C.S. and Kong, Y.M. Coexpression of susceptible and resistant HLA class II transgenes in murine experimental autoimmune thyroiditis: DQ8 molecules downregulate DR3-mediated thyroiditis. J. Autoimmunity, 18:213-220, 2002. Medline |
| Wan, Q., Shah, R., Panos, J.C., Giraldo, A.A., David, C.S. and Kong, Y.M. HLA-DR and HLA-DQ polymorphism in human thyroglobulin-induced autoimmune thyroiditis: DR3 and DQ8 transgenic mice are susceptible. Human Immunol. 63:301-310, 2002. Medline |
| Wan, Q., Kita, M., Flynn, J.C., Panos, J.C., Motte, R.W., Davies, T.F., Giraldo, A.A., David, C.S. and Kong, Y.M. Participation of Vß13+ and Vß1+ T cells in transfer thyroiditis after activation of mouse thyroglobulin-primed T cells by superantigen staphylococcal enterotoxin A. Cell. Immunol. 214:149-157, 2001. Medline |
| Yan, Y., Panos, J.C., McCormick, D.J., Wan, Q., Giraldo, A.A., Brusic, V., David, C.S. and Kong, Y.M. Characterization of a novel H2A-E+ transgenic model susceptible to heterologous but not self thyroglobulin in autoimmune thyroiditis: Thyroiditis transfer with Vß8+ T cells. Cell. Immunol. 212:63-70, 2001. Medline |
| Flynn, J.C., Fuller, B.E., Giraldo, A.A., Panos, J.C., David, C.S. and Kong, Y.M. Flexibility of TCR repertoire andpermissiveness of HLA-DR3 molecules in experimental autoimmune thyroiditis in nonobese diabetic mice. J. Autoimmunity 17:7-15, 2001. Medline |
| Zhang, W., Flynn, J.C. and Kong, Y.M. IL-12 prevents tolerance induction with mouse thyroglobulin by priming pathogenic T cells in experimental autoimmune thyroiditis: Role of IFN-g and the costimulatory molecules CD40L and CD28. Cell. Immunol. 208:52-61, 2001. Medline |
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