Smita Kesavan Nair | Scholars@Duke

Smita Kesavan Nair
Professor in Surgery

I have 22 years of experience in the field of cancer vaccines and immunotherapy and I am an accomplished T cell immunologist. Laboratory website:
https://surgery.duke.edu/immunology-inflammation-immunotherapy-laboratory

Current projects in the Nair Laboratory:
1] Dendritic cell vaccines using tumor-antigen encoding RNA (mRNA, total tumor RNA, amplified tumor mRNA)
2] Local immune receptor modulation using mRNA that encodes for antibodies, receptor-ligands, cytokines, chemokines and toll-like receptors (current target list: CTLA4, GITR, PD1, TIM3, LAG3, OX40 and 41BB)
3] Combination therapies for cancer: cytotoxic therapy (radiation, chemo and oncolytic poliovirus therapy) with dendritic cell-based vaccines and immune checkpoint blockade
4] Adoptive T cell therapy using tumor RNA-transfected dendritic cells to expand tumor-specific T cells ex vivo
5] Adoptive T cell therapy using PSMA CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) RNA-transfected T cells
6] Direct injection of tumor antigen encoding RNA (targeting antigens to dendric cells in vivo using nanoparticles and aptamers)

Current Appointments & Affiliations

Professor in Surgery, Surgery, Surgical Sciences, Surgery 2016
Professor in Pathology, Pathology, Clinical Science Departments 2016
Professor in Neurosurgery, Neurosurgery, Neurosurgery 2017
Member of the Duke Cancer Institute, Duke Cancer Institute, Institutes and Centers 1993

Contact Information

Box 103035 Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710
Room 1077, Msrb-2, 106 Research Drive, Durham, NC 27710
smita.nair@duke.edu (919) 681-2180
Nair Lab
Nair Team

Background
Education, Training, & Certifications
- Ph.D., University of Tennessee at Knoxville 1993
Duke Appointment History
- Associate Professor of Surgery, Surgery, Surgical Sciences, Surgery 2011 - 2016
- Associate Professor in Pathology, Pathology, Clinical Science Departments 2014 - 2016
- Assistant Professor of Surgery, Surgery, Surgical Sciences, Surgery 2006 - 2011
- Assistant Research Professor of Experimental Surgery in the Department of Surgery, Surgery, Surgical Sciences, Surgery 1996 - 2006
Recognition
In the News
- SEP 20, 2017 Duke Health News
  
  Poliovirus Therapy Induces Immune Responses Against Cancer
- AUG 26, 2015 Duke Translational Medicine Institute
  
  Can a Modified Poliovirus Fight Advanced Prostate Cancer Too?
- AUG 8, 2014 Duke Research Blog
  
  Lab Develops Cheaper, Faster Cancer Vaccine
Research
Selected Grants
- Oncolytic Polovirus, Immunotoxin, and Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy of Gliomas awarded by National Institutes of Health 2015 - 2022
- CCL3 as a Developmental Therapeutic to Enhance Brain Tumor Therapy awarded by National Institutes of Health 2016 - 2021
- Translational Research in Surgical Oncology awarded by National Institutes of Health 2002 - 2021
- Regional Oncolytic Poliovirus Immunotherapy for Breast Cancer awarded by Department of Defense 2016 - 2021
- Cancer Immunotherapy Through Intratumoral Activation of Recall Responses awarded by National Institutes of Health 2018 - 2021
- Melanoma-mediated Dendritic Cell Tolerization and Immune Evasion awarded by National Institutes of Health 2015 - 2020
- Targeting DAMP-induced inflammation to prevent metastasis awarded by Department of Defense 2016 - 2019
- Therapeutic Targeting of B7-H3 to Reverse Prostate Cancer Treatment Resistance awarded by Department of Defense 2016 - 2019
- Therapeutic targeting of B7-H3 to reverse prostate cancer treatment resistance. awarded by Department of Defense 2016 - 2019
- Metabolic Reprogramming of Dendritic Cell-based Cancer Vaccines to Enhance Anti-Tumor Immunity awarded by Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy 2016 - 2019
- A clinically-relevant anti-CD27 agonist antibody as a vaccine adjuvant for brain tumor immunotherapy awarded by National Institutes of Health 2016 - 2018
- Brain Tumor Targeting Using Tumor-Specific Neuroimmunology awarded by National Institutes of Health 2014 - 2018
- Novel Immune Modulating Cellular Vaccine for Prostate Cancer Immunotherapy awarded by Department of Defense 2013 - 2017
- Enhancing dendritic cell migration to drive potent anti-tumor immune responses awarded by National Institutes of Health 2013 - 2017
- Using Aptamer Coated Nanoparticles Encapsulating Prostate Tumor Antigen Encoding mRNA to Target Dendritic Cells In Vivo awarded by Department of Defense 2012 - 2015
- RNA aptamers as cell surface receptor agonists and siRNA delivery agents awarded by National Institutes of Health 2009 - 2014
- Cancer Immunotherapy w/In-Situ Maturated Dendritic cells awarded by National Institutes of Health 2003 - 2007
- Cancer Immunotherapy Targeting Endothelial Antigens awarded by National Institutes of Health 2003 - 2006
- Tumor RNA Transfected Dendritic Cell Vaccines awarded by National Institutes of Health 2000 - 2005
- Immunotherapy With Peptide Pulsed Dendritic Cells awarded by National Institutes of Health 1996 - 1999
Publications & Artistic Works
Selected Publications
- Book Sections
  - Nair, S, Murthy, MRN, and Savithri, HS. "Intrinsically Disordered Domains of Sesbania Mosaic Virus Encoded Proteins." In Flexible Viruses: Structural Disorder in Viral Proteins, 257-276. October 24, 2011. Full Text
- Conference Papers
  - Force, JM, Howie, LJ, Abbottt, S, Bentley, RC, Marcom, PK, Kimmick, GG, Westbrook, KE, Parks, M, Topping, DL, Broadwater, G, Blackwell, KL, and Nair, SK. "Increased FoxP3 and PD-L1 in non-pCR tissue from early stage HER2 positive breast cancer patients treated with trastuzumab-pertuzumab based regimens." May 20, 2016. Full Text Link to Item
  - Pratico, ED, Nair, SK, and Sullenger, BA. "66. Identification and Characterization of a B Cell Aptamer That Targets Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) and Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML)." May 2015. Full Text
  - Behera, RK, Nair, S, and Vaidya, V. "Redundant Data Removal from Images." January 1, 2015. Full Text
  - Sampson, J, Mitchell, DA, Batich, KA, Snyder, D, Xie, W, Reap, E, Cui, X, Sanchez-Perez, L, Archer, GE, Nair, SK, and Gunn, MD. "RANDOMIZATION OF PATIENTS WITH GLIOBLASTOMA TO VACCINE SITE PRE-CONDITIONING WITH TETANUS-DIPHTHERIA TOXOID SYSTEMICALLY ENHANCES MIGRATION AND THERAPEUTIC EFFECT OF CYTOMEGALOVIRUS PP65-PULSED DENDRITIC CELL VACCINE IN A MIP-1α-DEPENDENT FASHION." England. July 2014. Full Text Link to Item
  - Johnson, LA, Archer, GE, Nair, SK, Schmittling, R, Reap, E, and Sampson, JH. "CYTOMEGALOVIRUS-SPECIFIC IMMUNE DEFICITS IN PATIENTS WITH GBM." November 2011. Link to Item
  - Bangadkar, S, Dhane, P, Nair, S, and Kutty, K. "Mapping matrix for perspective correction from fish eye distorted images." September 5, 2011. Full Text
  - Yerva, S, Nair, S, and Kutty, K. "Lossless image compression based on data folding." September 5, 2011. Full Text
  - Yadav, GK, Kancharla, T, and Nair, S. "Real time vehicle detection for rear and forward collision warning systems." August 16, 2011. Full Text
  - Gilboa, E, Santulli-Marotto, S, Nair, SK, Boczkowski, D, and Zhao, YB. "A central role of RNA in developing therapeutic vaccines for cancer and infectious diseases." May 2004. Link to Item
  - Mosca, PJ, Hobeika, AC, Clay, TM, Nair, SK, Thomas, EK, Caron, DA, Lyerly, HK, and Morse, MA. "Multiple signals are required for IL-12 production by Flt-3 ligand mobilized dendritic cells." November 16, 2000. Link to Item
  - Gilboa, E, Nair, SK, and Boczkowski, D. "Cancer immunotherapy with tumor RNA-transfected dendritic cells." August 2000. Link to Item
  - Boczkowski, D, Nair, SK, Synder, D, and Gilboa, E. "RNA transfected dendritic cell vaccines: Use of RNA amplified from tumor cells." 1998. Link to Item
  - Faiola, B, Nair, SK, Doyle, C, and Gilboa, E. "Role of CD4(+) T cell help in priming in vivo CD8(+) CTL responses by dendritic cells." 1998. Link to Item
  - Gilboa, E, Nair, SK, Morse, M, Boczkowski, D, Deng, Y, and Lyerly, HK. "Immunotherapy of cancer with dendritic cell-based tumor vaccines." 1998. Link to Item
  - Kodaira, Y, Wrenshall, LE, Nair, S, Gilboa, E, and Platt, JL. "Heparan sulfate modulate allogeneic T cell responses stimulated by dendritic cells." 1998.
  - Mitchell, DA, Nair, SK, Snyder, D, and Gilboa, E. "Direct demonstration of "cross-priming": In situ transfer of tumor antigen to dendritic cells." 1998. Link to Item
  - Nair, SK, Morse, M, Boczkowski, D, Lyerly, HK, and Gilboa, E. "Cancer immunotherapy with tumor RNA transfected dendritic cell vaccines." 1998. Link to Item
  - Gilboa, E, Nair, SK, Boczkowski, D, Mitchel, D, and Faiola, B. "Immunotherapy of cancer with dendritic cell-based tumor vaccines." 1997. Link to Item
- Journal Articles
  - Manimekalai, R, Nair, S, Naganeeswaran, A, Karun, A, Malhotra, S, and Hubbali, V. "Transcriptome sequencing and de novo assembly in arecanut, Areca catechu L elucidates the secondary metabolite pathway genes." Biotechnology Reports 17 (March 2018): 63-69. Full Text
  - Gromeier, M, and Nair, SK. "Recombinant Poliovirus for Cancer Immunotherapy." Annual review of medicine 69 (January 2018): 289-299. Full Text
  - Mastria, EM, Cai, LY, Kan, MJ, Li, X, Schaal, JL, Fiering, S, Gunn, MD, Dewhirst, MW, Nair, SK, and Chilkoti, A. "Nanoparticle formulation improves doxorubicin efficacy by enhancing host antitumor immunity." Journal of controlled release : official journal of the Controlled Release Society 269 (January 2018): 364-373. Full Text
  - Reap, EA, Suryadevara, CM, Batich, KA, Sanchez-Perez, L, Archer, GE, Schmittling, RJ, Norberg, PK, Herndon, JE, Healy, P, Congdon, KL, Gedeon, PC, Campbell, OC, Swartz, AM, Riccione, KA, Yi, JS, Hossain-Ibrahim, MK, Saraswathula, A, Nair, SK, Dunn-Pirio, AM, Broome, TM, Weinhold, KJ, Desjardins, A, Vlahovic, G, McLendon, RE, Friedman, AH, Friedman, HS, Bigner, DD, Fecci, PE, Mitchell, DA, and Sampson, JH. "Dendritic Cells Enhance Polyfunctionality of Adoptively Transferred T Cells That Target Cytomegalovirus in Glioblastoma." Cancer research 78, no. 1 (January 2018): 256-264. Full Text
  - Zhao, F, Xiao, C, Evans, KS, Theivanthiran, T, DeVito, N, Holtzhausen, A, Liu, J, Liu, X, Boczkowski, D, Nair, S, Locasale, JW, and Hanks, BA. "Paracrine Wnt5a-β-Catenin Signaling Triggers a Metabolic Program that Drives Dendritic Cell Tolerization." Immunity 48, no. 1 (January 2018): 147-160.e7. Full Text
  - Brown, MC, Holl, EK, Boczkowski, D, Dobrikova, E, Mosaheb, M, Chandramohan, V, Bigner, DD, Gromeier, M, and Nair, SK. "Cancer immunotherapy with recombinant poliovirus induces IFN-dominant activation of dendritic cells and tumor antigen-specific CTLs." Science translational medicine 9, no. 408 (September 2017). Full Text
  - Batich, KA, Reap, EA, Archer, GE, Sanchez-Perez, L, Nair, SK, Schmittling, RJ, Norberg, P, Xie, W, Herndon, JE, Healy, P, McLendon, RE, Friedman, AH, Friedman, HS, Bigner, D, Vlahovic, G, Mitchell, DA, and Sampson, JH. "Long-term Survival in Glioblastoma with Cytomegalovirus pp65-Targeted Vaccination." Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research 23, no. 8 (April 2017): 1898-1909. Full Text
  - Singh, A, Nair, S, and Jain, R. "Pyridoxine responsive seizures secondary to isoniazid prophylaxis in an infant." Neurology India 65, no. 7 (March 1, 2017): S94-S95. (Letter) Full Text
  - Holl, EK, Brown, MC, Boczkowski, D, McNamara, MA, George, DJ, Bigner, DD, Gromeier, M, and Nair, SK. "Recombinant oncolytic poliovirus, PVSRIPO, has potent cytotoxic and innate inflammatory effects, mediating therapy in human breast and prostate cancer xenograft models." Oncotarget 7, no. 48 (November 2016): 79828-79841. Full Text
  - Boczkowski, D, and Nair, SK. "The RNAissance period." Discovery medicine 22, no. 119 (August 2016): 67-72. (Review)
  - Nair, S, Manimekalai, R, Ganga Raj, P, and Hegde, V. "Loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay for detection of coconut root wilt disease and arecanut yellow leaf disease phytoplasma." World journal of microbiology & biotechnology 32, no. 7 (July 2016): 108-. Full Text
  - Sullenger, BA, and Nair, S. "From the RNA world to the clinic." Science (New York, N.Y.) 352, no. 6292 (June 2016): 1417-1420. (Review) Full Text
  - Nair, S, Manimekalai, R, Soumya, VP, and Likhitha, KC. "Dual labeled probe based real time PCR method for detection of 16SrXI-B sub-group phytoplasma associated with coconut root wilt disease in India." Australasian Plant Pathology 45, no. 2 (April 2016): 187-189. Full Text
  - Brown, MC, Holl, EK, Boczkowski, D, Bigner, DD, Gromeier, M, and Nair, SK. "Abstract A157: Oncolytic poliovirus mediated immune events." Cancer Immunology Research 4, no. 1 Supplement (January 2016): A157-A157. Full Text
  - Dannull, J, and Nair, SK. "Transfecting Human Monocytes with RNA." Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) 1428 (January 2016): 177-186. Full Text
  - Kreiter, S, Diken, M, Pascolo, S, Nair, SK, Thielemans, KM, and Geall, A. "RNA Vaccination Therapy: Advances in an Emerging Field." Journal of immunology research 2016 (January 2016): 9703914-. Full Text
  - Pratico, ED, Feger, BJ, Watson, MJ, Sullenger, BA, Bowles, DE, Milano, CA, and Nair, SK. "RNA-Mediated Reprogramming of Primary Adult Human Dermal Fibroblasts into c-kit(+) Cardiac Progenitor Cells." Stem cells and development 24, no. 22 (November 2015): 2622-2633. Full Text
  - Nair, SK, Driscoll, T, Boczkowski, D, Schmittling, R, Reynolds, R, Johnson, LA, Grant, G, Fuchs, H, Bigner, DD, Sampson, JH, Gururangan, S, and Mitchell, DA. "Ex vivo generation of dendritic cells from cryopreserved, post-induction chemotherapy, mobilized leukapheresis from pediatric patients with medulloblastoma." Journal of neuro-oncology 125, no. 1 (October 2015): 65-74. Full Text
  - Phua, KKL, Staats, HF, Nair, SK, and Leong, KW. "Intranasal mRNA nanoparticle vaccination induces prophylactic and therapeutic anti-tumor immunity." Journal of controlled release : official journal of the Controlled Release Society 213 (September 2015): e66-e67. Full Text
  - Behera, RK, Gangadharan, J, Kutty, K, Nair, S, and Vaidya, V. "A Novel Method for Day Time Pedestrian Detection." SAE International Journal of Passenger Cars - Electronic and Electrical Systems 8, no. 2 (May 20, 2015). Full Text
  - Mitchell, DA, Batich, KA, Gunn, MD, Huang, M-N, Sanchez-Perez, L, Nair, SK, Congdon, KL, Reap, EA, Archer, GE, Desjardins, A, Friedman, AH, Friedman, HS, Herndon, JE, Coan, A, McLendon, RE, Reardon, DA, Vredenburgh, JJ, Bigner, DD, and Sampson, JH. "Tetanus toxoid and CCL3 improve dendritic cell vaccines in mice and glioblastoma patients." Nature 519, no. 7543 (March 11, 2015): 366-369. Full Text Open Access Copy
  - Dannull, J, Tan, C, Farrell, C, Wang, C, Pruitt, S, Nair, SK, and Lee, WT. "Gene Expression Profile of Dendritic Cell-Tumor Cell Hybrids Determined by Microarrays and Its Implications for Cancer Immunotherapy." Journal of immunology research 2015 (January 2015): 789136-. Full Text
  - McNamara, MA, Nair, SK, and Holl, EK. "RNA-Based Vaccines in Cancer Immunotherapy." Journal of immunology research 2015 (January 2015): 794528-. (Review) Full Text Open Access Copy
  - Brown, MC, Dobrikova, EY, Dobrikov, MI, Walton, RW, Gemberling, SL, Nair, SK, Desjardins, A, Sampson, JH, Friedman, HS, Friedman, AH, Tyler, DS, Bigner, DD, and Gromeier, M. "Oncolytic polio virotherapy of cancer." Cancer 120, no. 21 (November 2014): 3277-3286. (Review) Full Text
  - Nair, S, and Rein, A. "Antiretroviral restriction factors in mice." Virus research 193 (November 2014): 130-134. (Review) Full Text
  - Nair, S, Roshna, OM, Soumya, VP, Hegde, V, Suresh Kumar, M, Manimekalai, R, and Thomas, GV. "Real-time PCR technique for detection of arecanut yellow leaf disease phytoplasma." Australasian Plant Pathology 43, no. 5 (September 2014): 527-529. Full Text
  - Phua, KKL, Nair, SK, and Leong, KW. "Messenger RNA (mRNA) nanoparticle tumour vaccination." Nanoscale 6, no. 14 (July 2014): 7715-7729. (Review) Full Text
  - Phua, KKL, Staats, HF, Leong, KW, and Nair, SK. "Intranasal mRNA nanoparticle vaccination induces prophylactic and therapeutic anti-tumor immunity." Scientific reports 4 (June 4, 2014): 5128-. Full Text
  - Phua, KKL, Boczkowski, D, Dannull, J, Pruitt, S, Leong, KW, and Nair, SK. "Whole blood cells loaded with messenger RNA as an anti-tumor vaccine." Adv Healthc Mater 3, no. 6 (June 2014): 837-842. Full Text Link to Item
  - Nair, SK, De Leon, G, Boczkowski, D, Schmittling, R, Xie, W, Staats, J, Liu, R, Johnson, LA, Weinhold, K, Archer, GE, Sampson, JH, and Mitchell, DA. "Recognition and killing of autologous, primary glioblastoma tumor cells by human cytomegalovirus pp65-specific cytotoxic T cells." Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research 20, no. 10 (May 2014): 2684-2694. Full Text
  - Nair, SK, Tomaras, GD, Sales, AP, Boczkowski, D, Chan, C, Plonk, K, Cai, Y, Dannull, J, Kepler, TB, Pruitt, SK, and Weinhold, KJ. "High-throughput identification and dendritic cell-based functional validation of MHC class I-restricted Mycobacterium tuberculosis epitopes." Scientific reports 4 (April 23, 2014): 4632-. Full Text
  - Nair, S, Sanchez-Martinez, S, Ji, X, and Rein, A. "Biochemical and biological studies of mouse APOBEC3." Journal of virology 88, no. 7 (April 2014): 3850-3860. Full Text
  - Sampson, JH, Choi, BD, Sanchez-Perez, L, Suryadevara, CM, Snyder, DJ, Flores, CT, Schmittling, RJ, Nair, SK, Reap, EA, Norberg, PK, Herndon, JE, Kuan, C-T, Morgan, RA, Rosenberg, SA, and Johnson, LA. "EGFRvIII mCAR-modified T-cell therapy cures mice with established intracerebral glioma and generates host immunity against tumor-antigen loss." Clin Cancer Res 20, no. 4 (February 15, 2014): 972-984. Full Text Link to Item
  - Manimekalai, R, Nair, S, and Soumya, VP. "Evidence of 16SrXI group phytoplasma DNA in embryos of root wilt diseased coconut palms." Australasian Plant Pathology 43, no. 1 (January 2014): 93-96. Full Text
  - Nair, SK, Sampson, JH, and Mitchell, DA. "Immunological targeting of cytomegalovirus for glioblastoma therapy." Oncoimmunology 3 (January 2014): e29289-. Full Text
  - R., M, V.P., S, Nair, S, Thomas, GV, and V.K., B. "Molecular characterization identifies 16SrXI-B group phytoplasma (‘Candidatus Phytoplasma oryzae’-related strain) associated with root wilt disease of coconut in India." Scientia Horticulturae 165 (January 2014): 288-294. Full Text
  - Tan, C, Dannull, J, Nair, SK, Ding, E, Tyler, DS, Pruitt, SK, and Lee, WT. "Local secretion of IL-12 augments the therapeutic impact of dendritic cell-tumor cell fusion vaccination." J Surg Res 185, no. 2 (December 2013): 904-911. Full Text Link to Item
  - Tan, C, Reddy, V, Dannull, J, Ding, E, Nair, SK, Tyler, DS, Pruitt, SK, and Lee, WT. "Impact of anti-CD25 monoclonal antibody on dendritic cell-tumor fusion vaccine efficacy in a murine melanoma model. (Published online)" J Transl Med 11 (June 17, 2013): 148-. Full Text Link to Item
  - Ramaswamy, M, Nair, S, Soumya, VP, and Thomas, GV. "Phylogenetic analysis identifies a 'Candidatus Phytoplasma oryzae'-related strain associated with yellow leaf disease of areca palm (Areca catechu L.) in India." International journal of systematic and evolutionary microbiology 63, no. Pt 4 (April 2013): 1376-1382. Full Text
  - Phua, KKL, Leong, KW, and Nair, SK. "Transfection efficiency and transgene expression kinetics of mRNA delivered in naked and nanoparticle format." J Control Release 166, no. 3 (March 28, 2013): 227-233. Full Text Link to Item
  - Pratico, ED, Sullenger, BA, and Nair, SK. "Identification and characterization of an agonistic aptamer against the T cell costimulatory receptor, OX40." Nucleic Acid Ther 23, no. 1 (February 2013): 35-43. Full Text Link to Item
  - Dannull, J, Haley, NR, Archer, G, Nair, S, Boczkowski, D, Harper, M, Rosa, ND, Pickett, N, Mosca, PJ, Burchette, J, Selim, MA, Mitchell, DA, Sampson, J, Tyler, DS, and Pruitt, SK. "Melanoma immunotherapy using mature DCs expressing the constitutive proteasome." Journal of Clinical Investigation 123, no. 7 (2013): 3135-3145. Full Text
  - Lee, J, Boczkowski, D, and Nair, S. "Programming human dendritic cells with mRNA." Methods Mol Biol 969 (2013): 111-125. (Review) Full Text Link to Item
  - Lee, J, Boczkowski, D, and Nair, S. "Engineering B cells with mRNA." Methods Mol Biol 969 (2013): 101-110. (Review) Full Text Link to Item
  - Nair, S, Aldrich, AJ, McDonnell, E, Cheng, Q, Aggarwal, A, Patel, P, Williams, MM, Boczkowski, D, Lyerly, HK, Morse, MA, and Devi, GR. "Immunologic targeting of FOXP3 in inflammatory breast cancer cells." PLoS One 8, no. 1 (2013): e53150-. Full Text Link to Item
  - Nair, S, Archer, GE, and Tedder, TF. "Isolation and generation of human dendritic cells." Curr Protoc Immunol Chapter 7 (November 2012): Unit7.32-. Full Text Link to Item
  - Sampson, JH, Schmittling, RJ, Archer, GE, Congdon, KL, Nair, SK, Reap, EA, Desjardins, A, Friedman, AH, Friedman, HS, Herndon, JE, Coan, A, McLendon, RE, Reardon, DA, Vredenburgh, JJ, Bigner, DD, and Mitchell, DA. "A pilot study of IL-2Rα blockade during lymphopenia depletes regulatory T-cells and correlates with enhanced immunity in patients with glioblastoma." PLoS One 7, no. 2 (2012): e31046-. Full Text Open Access Copy Link to Item
  - Pruitt, SK, Boczkowski, D, de Rosa, N, Haley, NR, Morse, MA, Tyler, DS, Dannull, J, and Nair, S. "Enhancement of anti-tumor immunity through local modulation of CTLA-4 and GITR by dendritic cells." Eur J Immunol 41, no. 12 (December 2011): 3553-3563. Full Text Link to Item
  - Manimekalai, R, Nair, S, Soumya, VP, Roshna, OM, and Thomas, GV. "Real-time PCR technique-based detection of coconut root (wilt) phytoplasma." Current Science 101, no. 9 (November 1, 2011): 1209-1212.
  - Nair, S, and Savithri, HS. "Natively unfolded nucleic acid binding P8 domain of SeMV polyprotein 2a affects the novel ATPase activity of the preceding P10 domain." FEBS letters 584, no. 3 (February 2010): 571-576. Full Text
  - Boczkowski, D, and Nair, S. "RNA as performance-enhancers for dendritic cells." Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy 10, no. 4 (2010): 563-574. Full Text
  - Nair, S, and Savithri, HS. "Processing of SeMV polyproteins revisited." Virology 396, no. 1 (January 2010): 106-117. Full Text
  - Boczkowski, D, Lee, J, Pruitt, S, and Nair, S. "Dendritic cells engineered to secrete anti-GITR antibodies are effective adjuvants to dendritic cell-based immunotherapy." Cancer Gene Ther 16, no. 12 (December 2009): 900-911. Full Text Link to Item
  - Nair, S, Balakrishnan, R, Seelamantula, CS, and Sukumar, R. "Vocalizations of wild Asian elephants (Elephas maximus): structural classification and social context." The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 126, no. 5 (November 2009): 2768-2778. Full Text
  - Nair, S, Gayathri, P, Murthy, MRN, and Savithri, HS. "Stacking interactions of W271 and H275 of SeMV serine protease with W43 of natively unfolded VPg confer catalytic activity to protease." Virology 382, no. 1 (December 2008): 83-90. Full Text
  - Lee, J, Dollins, CM, Boczkowski, D, Sullenger, BA, and Nair, S. "Activated B cells modified by electroporation of multiple mRNAs encoding immune stimulatory molecules are comparable to mature dendritic cells in inducing in vitro antigen-specific T-cell responses." Immunology 125, no. 2 (October 2008): 229-240. Full Text Link to Item
  - Dollins, CM, Nair, S, Boczkowski, D, Lee, J, Layzer, JM, Gilboa, E, and Sullenger, BA. "Assembling OX40 aptamers on a molecular scaffold to create a receptor-activating aptamer." Chem Biol 15, no. 7 (July 21, 2008): 675-682. Full Text Link to Item
  - Dollins, CM, Nair, S, and Sullenger, BA. "Aptamers in immunotherapy." Hum Gene Ther 19, no. 5 (May 2008): 443-450. (Review) Full Text Link to Item
  - Gadre, JN, Nair, S, and Chitre, S. "Synthesis of some new 4-thiazolidinones and thiazin-4-ones as biologically potent agents." Indian Journal of Chemistry - Section B Organic and Medicinal Chemistry 46, no. 4 (April 1, 2007): 653-659.
  - Nair, S, Boczkowski, D, Fassnacht, M, Pisetsky, D, and Gilboa, E. "Vaccination against the forkhead family transcription factor Foxp3 enhances tumor immunity." Cancer Res 67, no. 1 (January 1, 2007): 371-380. Full Text Link to Item
  - Fecci, PE, Sweeney, AE, Grossi, PM, Nair, SK, Learn, CA, Mitchell, DA, Cui, X, Cummings, TJ, Bigner, DD, Gilboa, E, and Sampson, JH. "Systemic anti-CD25 monoclonal antibody administration safely enhances immunity in murine glioma without eliminating regulatory T cells." Clin Cancer Res 12, no. 14 Pt 1 (July 15, 2006): 4294-4305. Full Text Link to Item
  - Hess, PR, Boczkowski, D, Nair, SK, Snyder, D, and Gilboa, E. "Vaccination with mRNAs encoding tumor-associated antigens and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor efficiently primes CTL responses, but is insufficient to overcome tolerance to a model tumor/self antigen." Cancer Immunol Immunother 55, no. 6 (June 2006): 672-683. Full Text Link to Item
  - Gayathri, P, Satheshkumar, PS, Prasad, K, Nair, S, Savithri, HS, and Murthy, MRN. "Crystal structure of the serine protease domain of Sesbania mosaic virus polyprotein and mutational analysis of residues forming the S1-binding pocket." Virology 346, no. 2 (March 2006): 440-451. Full Text
  - Lee, J, Fassnacht, M, Nair, S, Boczkowski, D, and Gilboa, E. "Tumor immunotherapy targeting fibroblast activation protein, a product expressed in tumor-associated fibroblasts." Cancer Res 65, no. 23 (December 1, 2005): 11156-11163. Full Text Link to Item
  - Fassnacht, M, Lee, J, Milazzo, C, Boczkowski, D, Su, Z, Nair, S, and Gilboa, E. "Induction of CD4(+) and CD8(+) T-cell responses to the human stromal antigen, fibroblast activation protein: implication for cancer immunotherapy." Clin Cancer Res 11, no. 15 (August 1, 2005): 5566-5571. Full Text Link to Item
  - Dannull, J, Nair, S, Su, Z, Boczkowski, D, DeBeck, C, Yang, B, Gilboa, E, and Vieweg, J. "Enhancing the immunostimulatory function of dendritic cells by transfection with mRNA encoding OX40 ligand." Blood 105, no. 8 (April 15, 2005): 3206-3213. Full Text Link to Item
  - Cisco, RM, Abdel-Wahab, Z, Dannull, J, Nair, S, Tyler, DS, Gilboa, E, Vieweg, J, Daaka, Y, and Pruitt, SK. "Induction of human dendritic cell maturation using transfection with RNA encoding a dominant positive toll-like receptor 4." J Immunol 172, no. 11 (June 1, 2004): 7162-7168. Link to Item
  - Liao, X, Li, Y, Bonini, C, Nair, S, Gilboa, E, Greenberg, PD, and Yee, C. "Transfection of RNA encoding tumor antigens following maturation of dendritic cells leads to prolonged presentation of antigen and the generation of high-affinity tumor-reactive cytotoxic T lymphocytes." Mol Ther 9, no. 5 (May 2004): 757-764. Full Text Link to Item
  - Nair, S, McLaughlin, C, Weizer, A, Su, Z, Boczkowski, D, Dannull, J, Vieweg, J, and Gilboa, E. "Injection of immature dendritic cells into adjuvant-treated skin obviates the need for ex vivo maturation." J Immunol 171, no. 11 (December 1, 2003): 6275-6282. Link to Item
  - Zhao, Y, Boczkowski, D, Nair, SK, and Gilboa, E. "Inhibition of invariant chain expression in dendritic cells presenting endogenous antigens stimulates CD4+ T-cell responses and tumor immunity." Blood 102, no. 12 (December 1, 2003): 4137-4142. Full Text Link to Item
  - Santulli-Marotto, S, Nair, SK, Rusconi, C, Sullenger, B, and Gilboa, E. "Multivalent RNA aptamers that inhibit CTLA-4 and enhance tumor immunity." Cancer Res 63, no. 21 (November 1, 2003): 7483-7489. Link to Item
  - Nair, S, Boczkowski, D, Moeller, B, Dewhirst, M, Vieweg, J, and Gilboa, E. "Synergy between tumor immunotherapy and antiangiogenic therapy." Blood 102, no. 3 (August 1, 2003): 964-971. Full Text Link to Item
  - Morse, MA, Nair, SK, Mosca, PJ, Hobeika, AC, Clay, TM, Deng, Y, Boczkowski, D, Proia, A, Neidzwiecki, D, Clavien, P-A, Hurwitz, HI, Schlom, J, Gilboa, E, and Lyerly, HK. "Immunotherapy with autologous, human dendritic cells transfected with carcinoembryonic antigen mRNA." Cancer Invest 21, no. 3 (June 2003): 341-349. Link to Item
  - Nair, SK, Morse, M, Boczkowski, D, Cumming, RI, Vasovic, L, Gilboa, E, and Lyerly, HK. "Induction of tumor-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes in cancer patients by autologous tumor RNA-transfected dendritic cells." Ann Surg 235, no. 4 (April 2002): 540-549. Link to Item
  - Faiola, B, Doyle, C, Gilboa, E, and Nair, S. "Influence of CD4 T cells and the source of major histocompatibility complex class II-restricted peptides on cytotoxic T-cell priming by dendritic cells." Immunology 105, no. 1 (January 2002): 47-55. Link to Item
  - Morse, MA, Nair, SK, Boczkowski, D, Tyler, D, Hurwitz, HI, Proia, A, Clay, TM, Schlom, J, Gilboa, E, and Lyerly, HK. "The feasibility and safety of immunotherapy with dendritic cells loaded with CEA mRNA following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and resection of pancreatic cancer." Int J Gastrointest Cancer 32, no. 1 (2002): 1-6. Full Text Link to Item
  - Nair, S, and Boczkowski, D. "RNA-transfected dendritic cells." Expert Review of Vaccines 1, no. 4 (2002): 507-513. Full Text
  - Tedder, TF, and Jansen, PJ. "Isolation and generation of human dendritic cells." Current protocols in immunology Chapter 7 (May 2001): Unit-7.32. Full Text
  - Heiser, A, Maurice, MA, Yancey, DR, Wu, NZ, Dahm, P, Pruitt, SK, Boczkowski, D, Nair, SK, Ballo, MS, Gilboa, E, and Vieweg, J. "Induction of polyclonal prostate cancer-specific CTL using dendritic cells transfected with amplified tumor RNA." J Immunol 166, no. 5 (March 1, 2001): 2953-2960. Link to Item
  - Morse, MA, Nair, S, Fernandez-Casal, M, Deng, Y, St Peter, M, Williams, R, Hobeika, A, Mosca, P, Clay, T, Cumming, RI, Fisher, E, Clavien, P, Proia, AD, Niedzwiecki, D, Caron, D, and Lyerly, HK. "Preoperative mobilization of circulating dendritic cells by Flt3 ligand administration to patients with metastatic colon cancer." J Clin Oncol 18, no. 23 (December 1, 2000): 3883-3893. Full Text Link to Item
  - Mosca, PJ, Hobeika, AC, Clay, TM, Nair, SK, Thomas, EK, Morse, MA, and Lyerly, HK. "A subset of human monocyte-derived dendritic cells expresses high levels of interleukin-12 in response to combined CD40 ligand and interferon-gamma treatment." Blood 96, no. 10 (November 15, 2000): 3499-3504. Link to Item
  - Mitchell, DA, and Nair, SK. "RNA-transfected dendritic cells in cancer immunotherapy." J Clin Invest 106, no. 9 (November 2000): 1065-1069. (Review) Full Text Link to Item
  - Nair, SK, Heiser, A, Boczkowski, D, Majumdar, A, Naoe, M, Lebkowski, JS, Vieweg, J, and Gilboa, E. "Induction of cytotoxic T cell responses and tumor immunity against unrelated tumors using telomerase reverse transcriptase RNA transfected dendritic cells." Nat Med 6, no. 9 (September 2000): 1011-1017. Full Text Link to Item
  - Thornburg, C, Boczkowski, D, Gilboa, E, and Nair, SK. "Induction of cytotoxic T lymphocytes with dendritic cells transfected with human papillomavirus E6 and E7 RNA: implications for cervical cancer immunotherapy." J Immunother 23, no. 4 (July 2000): 412-418. Link to Item
  - Heiser, A, Dahm, P, Yancey, DR, Maurice, MA, Boczkowski, D, Nair, SK, Gilboa, E, and Vieweg, J. "Human dendritic cells transfected with RNA encoding prostate-specific antigen stimulate prostate-specific CTL responses in vitro." J Immunol 164, no. 10 (May 15, 2000): 5508-5514. Link to Item
  - Mitchell, DA, and Nair, SK. "RNA transfected dendritic cells as cancer vaccines." Curr Opin Mol Ther 2, no. 2 (April 2000): 176-181. (Review) Link to Item
  - Boczkowski, D, Nair, SK, Nam, JH, Lyerly, HK, and Gilboa, E. "Induction of tumor immunity and cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses using dendritic cells transfected with messenger RNA amplified from tumor cells." Cancer Res 60, no. 4 (February 15, 2000): 1028-1034. Link to Item
  - Kodaira, Y, Nair, SK, Wrenshall, LE, Gilboa, E, and Platt, JL. "Phenotypic and functional maturation of dendritic cells mediated by heparan sulfate." Journal of Immunology 165, no. 3 (2000): 1599-1604.
  - Kumaraguru, U, Rouse, RJD, Nair, SK, Bruce, BD, and Rouse, BT. "Involvement of an ATP-dependent peptide chaperone in cross-presentation after DNA immunization." Journal of Immunology 165, no. 2 (2000): 750-759.
  - Larchian, WA, Horiguchi, Y, Nair, SK, Fair, WR, Heston, WDW, and Gilboa, E. "Effectiveness of combined interleukin 2 and B7.1 vaccination strategy is dependent on the sequence and order: A liposome-mediated gene therapy treatment for bladder cancer." Clinical Cancer Research 6, no. 7 (2000): 2913-2920.
  - Nair, SK, Hull, S, Coleman, D, Gilboa, E, Lyerly, HK, and Morse, MA. "Induction of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA)-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocyte responses in vitro using autologous dendritic cells loaded with CEA peptide or CEA RNA in patients with metastatic malignancies expressing CEA." Int J Cancer 82, no. 1 (July 2, 1999): 121-124. Link to Item
  - Morse, MA, Deng, Y, Coleman, D, Hull, S, Kitrell-Fisher, E, Nair, S, Schlom, J, Ryback, ME, and Lyerly, HK. "A Phase I study of active immunotherapy with carcinoembryonic antigen peptide (CAP-1)-pulsed, autologous human cultured dendritic cells in patients with metastatic malignancies expressing carcinoembryonic antigen." Clin Cancer Res 5, no. 6 (June 1999): 1331-1338. Link to Item
  - Nair, S, Wearsch, PA, Mitchell, DA, Wassenberg, JJ, Gilboa, E, and Nicchitta, CV. "Calreticulin displays in vivo peptide-binding activity and can elicit CTL responses against bound peptides." J Immunol 162, no. 11 (June 1, 1999): 6426-6432. Link to Item
  - Morse, MA, Lyerly, HK, Gilboa, E, Thomas, E, and Nair, SK. "Optimization of the sequence of antigen loading and CD40-ligand-induced maturation of dendritic cells." Cancer Res 58, no. 14 (July 15, 1998): 2965-2968. Link to Item
  - Mitchell, DA, Nair, SK, and Gilboa, E. "Dendritic cell/macrophage precursors capture exogenous antigen for MHC class I presentation by dendritic cells." Eur J Immunol 28, no. 6 (June 1998): 1923-1933. Full Text Link to Item
  - Gilboa, E, Nair, SK, and Lyerly, HK. "Immunotherapy of cancer with dendritic-cell-based vaccines." Cancer Immunol Immunother 46, no. 2 (April 1998): 82-87. (Review) Link to Item
  - Nair, SK, Boczkowski, D, Morse, M, Cumming, RI, Lyerly, HK, and Gilboa, E. "Induction of primary carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA)-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes in vitro using human dendritic cells transfected with RNA." Nat Biotechnol 16, no. 4 (April 1998): 364-369. Full Text Link to Item
  - Nair, SK. "Immunotherapy of cancer with dendritic cell-based vaccines." Gene Therapy 5, no. 11 (1998): 1445-1446.
  - Wong, C, Morse, M, and Nair, SK. "Induction of primary, human antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes in vitro using dendritic cells pulsed with peptides." J Immunother 21, no. 1 (January 1998): 32-40. Link to Item
  - Ashley, DM, Faiola, B, Nair, S, Hale, LP, Bigner, DD, and Gilboa, E. "Bone marrow-generated dendritic cells pulsed with tumor extracts or tumor RNA induce antitumor immunity against central nervous system tumors." J Exp Med 186, no. 7 (October 6, 1997): 1177-1182. Link to Item
  - Nair, SK, Snyder, D, Rouse, BT, and Gilboa, E. "Regression of tumors in mice vaccinated with professional antigen-presenting cells pulsed with tumor extracts." Int J Cancer 70, no. 6 (March 17, 1997): 706-715. Link to Item
  - Nair, SK, Boczkowski, D, Snyder, D, and Gilboa, E. "Antigen-presenting cells pulsed with unfractionated tumor-derived peptides are potent tumor vaccines." Eur J Immunol 27, no. 3 (March 1997): 589-597. Full Text Link to Item
  - Rouse, BT, Nair, S, Rouse, RJD, Yu, Z, Kuklin, N, Karem, K, and Manickan, E. "DNA vaccines and immunity to herpes simplex virus." Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology 226 (1997): 69-78.
  - Boczkowski, D, Nair, SK, Snyder, D, and Gilboa, E. "Dendritic cells pulsed with RNA are potent antigen-presenting cells in vitro and in vivo." J Exp Med 184, no. 2 (August 1, 1996): 465-472. Link to Item
  - Nair, SK, Snyder, D, and Gilboa, E. "Cells treated with TAP-2 antisense oligonucleotides are potent antigen-presenting cells in vitro and in vivo." J Immunol 156, no. 5 (March 1, 1996): 1772-1780. Link to Item
  - Babu, JS, Nair, S, Kanda, P, and Rouse, BT. "Priming for virus-specific CD8+ but not CD4+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes with synthetic lipopeptide is influenced by acylation units and liposome encapsulation." Vaccine 13, no. 17 (December 1995): 1669-1676. Link to Item
  - Nair, S, Buiting, AM, Rouse, RJ, Van Rooijen, N, Huang, L, and Rouse, BT. "Role of macrophages and dendritic cells in primary cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses." Int Immunol 7, no. 4 (April 1995): 679-688. Link to Item
  - Kanangat, S, Nair, S, Babu, JS, and Rouse, BT. "Expression of cytokine mRNA in murine splenic dendritic cells and better induction of T cell-derived cytokines by dendritic cells than by macrophages during in vitro costimulation assay using specific antigens." J Leukoc Biol 57, no. 2 (February 1995): 310-316. Link to Item
  - Rouse, RJ, Nair, SK, Lydy, SL, Bowen, JC, and Rouse, BT. "Induction in vitro of primary cytotoxic T-lymphocyte responses with DNA encoding herpes simplex virus proteins." J Virol 68, no. 9 (September 1994): 5685-5689. Link to Item
  - Bowen, JC, Nair, SK, Reddy, R, and Rouse, BT. "Cholera toxin acts as a potent adjuvant for the induction of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte responses with non-replicating antigens." Immunology 81, no. 3 (March 1994): 338-342. Link to Item
  - Banks, TA, Jenkins, FJ, Kanangat, S, Nair, S, Dasgupta, S, Foster, CM, and Rouse, BT. "Vaccination with the immediate-early protein ICP47 of herpes simplex virus-type 1 (HSV-1) induces virus-specific lymphoproliferation, but fails to protect against lethal challenge." Virology 200, no. 1 (1994): 236-245. Full Text
  - Nair, S, Babu, JS, Dunham, RG, Kanda, P, Burke, RL, and Rouse, BT. "Induction of primary, antiviral cytotoxic, and proliferative responses with antigens administered via dendritic cells." J Virol 67, no. 7 (July 1993): 4062-4069. Link to Item
  - Banks, TA, Nair, S, and Rouse, BT. "Recognition by and in vitro induction of cytotoxic T lymphocytes against predicted epitopes of the immediate-early protein ICP27 of herpes simplex virus." J Virol 67, no. 1 (January 1993): 613-616. Link to Item
  - Nair, S, Zhou, X, Huang, L, and Rouse, BT. "Class I restricted CTL recognition of a soluble protein delivered by liposomes containing lipophilic polylysines." J Immunol Methods 152, no. 2 (August 10, 1992): 237-243. Link to Item
  - Reddy, R, Zhou, F, Nair, S, Huang, L, and Rouse, BT. "In vivo cytotoxic T lymphocyte induction with soluble proteins administered in liposomes." J Immunol 148, no. 5 (March 1, 1992): 1585-1589. Link to Item
  - Nair, S, Zhou, F, Reddy, R, Huang, L, and Rouse, BT. "Soluble proteins delivered to dendritic cells via pH-sensitive liposomes induce primary cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses in vitro." J Exp Med 175, no. 2 (February 1, 1992): 609-612. Link to Item
  - Huang, L, Reddy, R, Nair, SK, Zhou, F, and Rouse, BT. "Liposomal delivery of soluble protein antigens for class I MHC-mediated antigen presentation." Research in Immunology 143, no. 2 (1992): 192-196.
  - Ready, R, Nair, S, Brynestad, K, and Rouse, BT. "Liposomes as antigen delivery systems in viral immunity." Seminars in Immunology 4, no. 2 (1992): 91-96.
- Other Articles
  - Faiola, B, Doyle, C, Gilboa, E, and Nair, S. "Erratum: Influence of CD4 T cells and the source of major histocompatibility complex class II-restricted peptides on cytotoxic T-cell priming by dendritic cells (Immunology (2002) 105 (47-55))." Immunology 106, no. 1 (2002): 122-123. Full Text
  - Mitchell, DA, Nair, SK, and Gilboa, E. "Correction: Dendritic cell/macrophage precursors capture exogenous antigen for MHC class I presentation by dendritic cells (European Journal of Immunology (1998) 28, 6 (1923-1933))." European Journal of Immunology 28, no. 11 (1998): 3891--.

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