Scholars@Duke
Mary Helen Foster

Mary Helen Foster

Professor of Medicine
Medicine, Nephrology
foste027@duke.edu
Duke Box 103015, Durham, NC 27710
MSRBII Second Floor, Rm 2018, 106 Research Drive, Durham, NC 27710

Featured Works

Central tolerance regulates B cells reactive with Goodpasture antigen alpha3(IV)NC1 collagen.

Journal article J Immunol · November 1, 2008 Featured Publication Patients and rodents with Goodpasture's syndrome (GPS) develop severe autoimmune crescentic glomerulonephritis, kidney failure, and lung hemorrhage due to binding of pathogenic autoantibodies to the NC1 domain of the alpha3 chain of type IV collagen. Targe ... Full text Link to item Cite

Novel targets for immunotherapy in glomerulonephritis.

Journal article Biologics · September 2008 Featured Publication Glomerulonephritis is a common cause of chronic kidney disease and end stage renal failure. Current therapy relies on variably effective, nonspecific and toxic immunosuppression. Recent insights into underlying biology and disease pathogenesis in human glo ... Full text Link to item Cite

Tracking Differential Gene Expression in MRL/MpJ Versus C57BL/6 Anergic B Cells: Molecular Markers of Autoimmunity.

Journal article Biomark Insights · June 10, 2008 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Anergy is a key mechanism controlling expression of autoreactive B cells and a major site for failed regulation in autoimmune diseases. Yet the molecular basis for this differentiated cell state remains poorly understood. The current lack of we ... Full text Link to item Cite

Multifunctional regulators of cell growth are differentially expressed in anergic murine B cells.

Journal article Mol Immunol · February 2007 Featured Publication Defective anergy is a major cause of failed tolerance and is amenable to therapeutic manipulation. To better define the molecular basis of anergy in B cells tolerized by matrix self-antigen, we used complementary approaches of representational difference a ... Full text Link to item Cite

T cells and B cells in lupus nephritis.

Journal article Semin Nephrol · January 2007 Featured Publication T and B lymphocytes play diverse roles at multiple stages in the development and progression of lupus nephritis. Disruption of T- and B-cell regulatory functions by environmental and genetic influences permits pathogenic effectors to emerge in disease. New ... Full text Link to item Cite

Deconstructing B cell tolerance to basement membranes.

Journal article Arch Immunol Ther Exp (Warsz) · 2006 Featured Publication Basement membrane antigens are frequent targets of autoantibody attack in systemic and organ-restricted autoimmunity. These specialized and highly organized matrices are composed of multiple components with restricted tissue distributions and limited epito ... Full text Link to item Cite

Kappa editing rescues autoreactive B cells destined for deletion in mice transgenic for a dual specific anti-laminin Ig.

Journal article J Immunol · May 1, 2004 Featured Publication We explored mechanisms involved in B cell self-tolerance in a double- and triple-transgenic mouse model bearing the LamH-C mu Ig H chain conventional transgene and a gene-targeted replacement for a functional V kappa 8J kappa 5 L chain gene. Whereas the H ... Full text Link to item Cite

Humoral autoimmunity to basement membrane antigens is regulated in C57BL/6 and MRL/MpJ mice transgenic for anti-laminin Ig receptors.

Journal article J Immunol · June 1, 2002 Featured Publication Basement membrane proteins are targeted in organ-limited and systemic autoimmune nephritis, yet little is known about the origin or regulation of immunity to these complex extracellular matrices. We used mice transgenic for a nephrotropic systemic lupus er ... Full text Link to item Cite

The nephritogenic immune response.

Journal article Curr Opin Nephrol Hypertens · May 1997 Featured Publication Recent insights into the etiopathogenesis of nephritogenic immune responses are derived primarily from experimental models of systemic and organ-specific autoimmunity. Genetic analyses and immune-related gene ablation studies indicate that multiple indepen ... Full text Link to item Cite

Molecular and structural analysis of nuclear localizing anti-DNA lupus antibodies.

Journal article Immunol Res · 1994 Featured Publication To determine the structure of three nuclear localizing lupus anti-DNA immunoglobulins (Igs) and to search for clues to mechanisms of cellular and/or nuclear access, their H- and L-chain variable region sequences were determined and subjected to three-dimen ... Full text Link to item Cite

Molecular analysis of spontaneous nephrotropic anti-laminin antibodies in an autoimmune MRL-lpr/lpr mouse.

Journal article J Immunol · July 15, 1993 Featured Publication To explore the genetic relationship between anti-laminin and anti-DNA autoantibodies (autoAb), VH gene and gene family expression were determined among autoAb derived from an individual 6-mo-old MRL-lpr/lpr mouse. Whereas 85% of the anti-DNA Ig were identi ... Link to item Cite

VH gene analysis of spontaneously activated B cells in adult MRL-lpr/lpr mice. J558 bias is not limited to classic lupus autoantibodies.

Journal article J Immunol · September 1, 1991 Featured Publication To determine the genetic origins of lupus auto-antibodies, we analyzed the relationship between VH gene usage and auto-Ag-binding properties of 352 B cell hybridomas derived from MRL-lpr/lpr mice. The hybridomas were derived from neonatal, 1-month-old, 3-m ... Link to item Cite