Islam U. Khan
Assistant Professor
Department of Internal Medicine-Rheumatology

B.Sc., University of Lucknow, India
Ph.D., University of Lucknow, India, 1989

Email: ikhan@wfubmc.edu
Phone: 336-716-2058

    The principal objective of Dr. Khan’s research has been to understand the mechanism underlying abnormal immune function in autoimmune diseases e.g., systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The general working hypothesis of his research is that SLE T cells harbor defective signal transduction pathways. His laboratory has identified a disorder of signal transduction in human T cells involving the adenylyl cyclase/cyclic AMP/protein kinase A (AC/cAMP/PKA) pathway.  This defective pathway is characterized by a profound deficiency of total PKA phosphotransferase activity in part due to a  deficiency of type I PKA (PKA-I). Khan’s laboratory is utilizing various immunologic, biochemical, molecular and genetic methods to determine how the reduction/absence of PKA-I contributes to abnormal T cell functions. Because abnormal T cell immune functions are important in the development and progression of SLE, his research results will yield new insights into how abnormal T cell functions contribute to the autoimmune process.

Recent Publications (selected):

Khan IU, Tsokos GC, Kammer GM. Abnormal B cell signal transduction in systemic lupus erythematosus. In: Nemazee D, ed. B Cell Biology in Autoimmunity. S. Karger AG, Basel, Switzerland 2003.

Kammer GM, Laxminarayana D, Khan IU. Mechanisms of deficient type I protein kinase A activity in lupus T lymphocytes. Int. Rev. Immunol. 2004; 23: 225-244.

Khan IU, Wallin R, Gupta RS, Kammer GM. Protein kinase A-catalyzed phosphorylation of a heat shock protein 60 chaperone regulates its attachment to histone 2B in the T lymphocyte plasma membrane. Proc Natl Acad Sci  USA 1998; 95:10425-30.

Laxminarayana D, Khan IU, Mishra N, Olorenshaw IM, Tasken K, Kammer GM. Diminished expression of protein kinase A RIb and RIb isoform transcripts and proteins in systemic lupus erythematosus T lymphocytes. J Immunol 1999;162:5639-5648.

Khan IU, Laxminarayana D, Kammer GM. Protein kinase RIbsubunit deficiency in lupus T lymphocytes: Bypassing a block in RIb translation reconstitutes protein kinase A activity and augments IL-2 production. J Immunol 2001; 166:7600-7605.

Elliott MR, Shanks RA, Khan IU, Brooks JW, Burkett PJ, Nelson BJ, Kyttaris V, Juang Y, Tsokos GC, Kammer GM. Down-regulation of IL-2 production in T lymphocytes by phosphorylated protein kinase-RII. J Immunol  2004, 172:7804-7812.