Cuong Q Nguyen
University of Florida, FL·Microbiology & Immunology
In Sjögren's disease (SjD), the immune system attacks the glands that make saliva and tears. This causes dry mouth, dry eyes and sometimes problems in other organs.
- Fields
Microbiology & Immunology
Medicine & Clinical Research
Biochemistry
- Topics
Sjögren's disease
Sjögren's syndrome
SjD
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Sep 2027
What they work on
- Catalog chemically modified peptides in salivary glands from Sjögren's disease mouse models and patients, using ultrasensitive deep proteome profiling with high-resolution proteomics.
- Define how strongly and stably candidate neoepitopes bind HLA molecules linked to Sjögren's risk, using molecular modeling and HLA binding predictions.
- Test whether small molecule inhibitors that disrupt neoepitope-HLA binding reduce autoimmune responses, in a humanized HLA-DR3 Sjögren's mouse model and in patients' T cells.
- Build a comprehensive database of salivary gland neoepitopes and identify modification signatures that may mark early disease.
More about the research
It mostly affects postmenopausal women. What triggers the attack is unclear, though self-reactive T cells and autoantibodies point to a mix of genetic, environmental and immune factors. Finding the trigger could lead to targeted treatments and prevention.
Why it matters
People with Sjögren's disease currently lack treatments that address what starts the immune attack on their glands. Finding the modified protein fragments that set it off could reveal new drug targets. Small molecules that block these fragments from binding HLA could support personalized therapies and prevention for at-risk people. The neoepitope database would also serve other researchers.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Harim Tavares Dos Santos
University at Buffalo, NY·Microbiology & Immunology·Early-career
Map where tuft cells, rare chemosensory cells of the gland lining, are located in salivary gland epithelium and what they do, using advanced microscopy and experiments in living mice.
Kirsten Limesand
University of Arizona, AZ·Physiology
Define the metabolic state and function of T cells, including CD4+CD8+ double-positive T cells, in mouse parotid glands over time after fractionated radiation.
Peter Aidan Savage
University of Chicago, IL·Microbiology & Immunology
Define the biophysical and structural basis by which T cell receptors from regulatory and conventional CD4+ T cells recognize the same self-peptide displayed on MHC class II, testing whether a more centered binding mode increases signaling sensitivity.
The school
University of Florida: 65 labs on PI Pages, $1.3B a year on research, 795 research doctorates a year.
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