RESEARCH ACTIVITY
My research focuses on cellular and molecular biological aspects of allergies. In the last couple of years, I have determined the cDNA sequence of several allergens, including some from the following organisms
Mites
Fire ants
Yeast
These allergens are expressed as recombinant proteins; they are used to study several aspects of the cellular response in allergies such as the recognition sites of allergens on B-cells and on T-cells. The recombinant allergens are also being studied for their usage in diagnosis and with some modification for immunotherapy. Ongoing research on allergies is performed in collaboration with
Dr. Donald Hoffman, Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, East Carolina University (insect venom allergens)
Dr. Annika Scheynius at the Karolinska Institute, Department of Clinical Immunology, Stockholm, Sweden (yeast allergens)
Interested student are always welcome.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
1. M. Schmidt and K.K. Sethi, "Production and Characterization of Monoclonal Antibodies Specific for Pathogenic Serogroups O:3, O:8 and O:9 of Yersinia enterocolitica", Zentralblatt f¸r Bakteriologie, Mikrobiologie und Hygiene A265, 113-123 (1987).
2. M. Schmidt, H. Ponstingl and F.A. Bautz, "A Monoclonal Antibody Directed Against the Head Region of Vimentin", Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 146, 1366-1374 (1987).
3. U. Hilgenfeldt, G. Kienapfel, W. Kellerman, R. Schott and M. Schmidt, "Renin-Angiotensin System in Sepsis", Clin. and Exper. Hypertension - Theory and Practice A9 (8 & 9), 1453-1504 (1987).
4. D.R. Hoffman, A. Mason Smith, M. Schmidt, J.E. Moffitt and M. Guralnick, "Allergens in Hymenoptera Venom. XXII: Comparison of Venoms from Two Species of Imported Fire Ants, Solenopsis invicta and richteri ", J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 85, 988-996 (1990).
5. D.R. Hoffman, R.S. Jacobson, M. Schmidt and A. Mason Smith, "Allergens in Hymenoptera Venoms XXIII. The Venom Content of Imported Fire Ant Whole Body Extracts", Annals of Allergy, 66, 29-31 (1991).
6. M. Schmidt, R.B. Walker, D.R. Hoffman, and T.J. McConnell, "Nucleotide Sequence of cDNA Encoding the Fire Ant Venom Protein Sol i II", FEBS Letters, 319, 138-140 (1993).
7. Y. Shibata, D.R. Bjorkman, M. Schmidt, Y. Oghiso, and A. Volkman, "Macrophage Colony Stimulating Factor-Induced Bone Marrow Macrophages do not Synthesize or Release Prostaglandin E2", Blood 83, 3316-3323 (1994).
8. M. Schmidt, S. Olsson, I. van der Ploeg, and M. van Hage-Hamsten, "cDNA Analysis of the Mite Allergen Lep d 1 Identifies Two Different Isoallergens and Variants", FEBS Letters 370, 11-14 (1995).
9. M. Schmidt, T.J. McConnell, and D. Hoffman, "Production of a Recombinant Imported Fire Ant Venom Allergen, Sol i 2, in Native and Immunoreactive Form", J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 98, 82-88 (1996).
10. E. Johansson, M. Schmidt, S.G.O. Johansson, L. Machado, S. Olsson, and M. van Hage-Hamsten, "Allergenic Cross-reactivity Between Lepidoglyphus destructor and Blomia tropicalis ", Clin. and Exper. Allergy 27, 691-699 (1997).
11. M. Schmidt, A. Zargari, P. Holt, L. Lindbom, U. Hellman, P. Whitley, I. van der Ploeg, B. Harfast, and A. Scheynius, "The Complete cDNA Sequence and Expression of the First Major Allergenic Protein of Malassezia furfur, Mal f 1", Eur. J. Biochem. 246, 181-185 (1997).
12. T.L.J. Eriksson, E. Johansson, P. Whitley, M. Schmidt, E.Said, and M. van Hage-Hamsten, "Cloning and Charaterization of a Group II Allergen from the Dust Mite Tyrophagus putrescentiae", Eur. J. Biochem. 215, 443-447 (1998)
13. L.N. Soldatova, R.Crameri, M. Gmachl, D.M. Kemeny, M. Schmidt, M. Weber, and U. Muller, "A Comparative Study of the Recobinant Bee Venom Allergen, Hyaluronidase, Expressed in Bacterial and Insect Cells", J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 101, 691-698 (1998).
14. S. Olsson, M. van Hage-Hamsten, P. Whitley, E. Johansson, D.R. Hoffman, G. Gafvelin, and M. Schmidt, "Expression of Two Isoforms of Lep d 2, the Major Allergen of Lepidoglyphus destructor, in Both Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Systems", Clin. and Exper. Allergy 28, 984-991 (1998).
15. Elfman, Lotta H. M., P. Whitley, M. Schmidt, M. can Hage-Hamsten, "IgE Binding Capacity of Synthetic and Recombinant Peptides of the Major Storage Mite (Lepidoglyphus ddestructor) Allergen, Lep d 2", Int Arch Allergy Immunol. 117: 167-173 (1998).
16. A. Zargari, M. Schmidt, M. Lundberg, A. Scheynius, P. Whitley, " Immunologic Characterization of Natural and Recombinant Mal fl Yeast Allergen" , J Allergy and Clin. Immunol. 103, 877-884 (1999).
17. M. Lindborg, C.G.M Magnusson, A. Zargari, M. Schmidt, A. Scheynius, R. Crameri, and P. Whitley, " Selective Cloning of Allergens from the Skin Colonizing Yeast Malassezia furfur by Phage Display Technology", J. Invest. Dermatology 113, 156-161 (1999).
18. J.E.M. Bjorklund, M. Schmidt, and C.G.M. Magnusson,
" Characterization of Recombinant Human IgE-Fc Fragments Expressed in Baculovirus- Infected Insect Cells", Mol. Immunol. 37, 169-177 (2000).
COURSES TAUGHT
General Biology
Microbiology
Immunology
Biotechnology
Molecular Cell Biology
Methods in Cell Biology
Hydridoma Technololgy MY WEB PAGE
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
German Association of Cell Biology
American Association of Cell Biology
Sigma Xi |
