Stewart L. Cooper, MD
My group investigates hepatic immunity, focusing on the determinants of HCV clearance and liver disease progression. Existing studies of HCV clearance suggest critical involvement of strong T helper 1 (Th1) type T cell responses, effected by CD8+ T cells. The reason why so few individuals launch adequate responses is unknown. A fundamental deficiency is that determinants that polarize adaptive immune responses (along respective T helper pathways) are incompletely understood. An attractive possibility is that this originates in the innate immune response, which typically engages pathogens within minutes to hours of invasion. Along with collaborators, our group has demonstrated that certain NK cell inhibitory receptors (iNKR) significantly influence the chance of clearing acute hepatitis C. This discovery holds potentially exciting prospects for future HCV therapies.
- Cooper S, Erickson AL, Adams EJ, Kansopon J, Weiner AJ, Chien DY, Houghton M, Parham P, Walker CM. Analysis of a successful immune response against hepatitis C virus. Immunity 1999;10:439-449.
- Tobler LH, Stramer SL, Chien DY, Lin S, Arcangel P, Phelps BH, Cooper SL, Busch MP. Antibodies to a novel antigen in acute hepatitis C virus infections. Vox Sang 2007;92:1-7.
- Bernardin F, Stramer SL, Rehermann B, Page-Shafer K, Cooper S, Bangsberg DR, Hahn J, Tobler L, Busch M, Delwart E. High levels of subgenomic HCV plasma RNA in immunosilent infections. Virology 2007;365:446-456.
- Transplant Hepatologist
- Director, Liver Immunology Laboratory, California Pacific Medical Center
- Liver Injury and Repair
- Phone: (415) 600-1548
- Liver Immunology Laboratory
- California Pacific Medical Center
- 2200 Webster St., Gerbode Bldg. #209
- San Francisco, CA 94115