Hans C. Oettgen, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Pediatrics – Harvard Medical School
IgG and FcγR2b act to counter the Th2 adjuvant function of IgE and mast cells
Hans Oettgen is a professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and is the associate chief in the Division of Immunology at Boston Children’s Hospital. The Oettgen laboratory focuses on IgE, the antibody that mediates allergic reactions, and its influence on mast cells. These are the cells that produce chemicals involved in the inflammatory response. His team’s research focuses on the effects of IgE growth and function of mast cells in the intestine. They are also examining how IgE and mast cells regulate immune sensitization in the intestine in the setting of food allergy.
Hans Oettgen’s research with FASI suggests that IgG and FcγR2b act to counter the Th2 adjuvant function of IgE and mast cells and that strategies that harness this effect might benefit food-allergic patients. For their Year 5 FASI work Hans’s laboratory is looking into whether the protective effect of IgG antibodies in vivo, suppressing Th2 and enhancing Treg responses, is mediated by their negative signals, delivered via FcγR2b specifically in mast cells.
Featured Publications:
Kanagaratham C, El Ansari YS, Lewis OL, Oettgen HC.IgE and IgG Antibodies as Regulators of Mast Cell and Basophil Functions in Food Allergy. Front Immunol. 2020 Dec 11;11:603050. PMID: 33362785
El Ansari YS, Kanagaratham C, Lewis OL, Oettgen HC. Adv Immunol. IgE and mast cells: The endogenous adjuvant. 2020;148:93-153. PMID: 33190734
Kanagaratham C, El Ansari YS, Sallis BF, Hollister BA, Lewis OL, Minnicozzi SC, Oyoshi MK, Rosen R, Nurko S, Fiebiger E, Oettgen HC. Omeprazole inhibits IgE-mediated mast cell activation and allergic inflammation induced by ingested allergen in mice. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2020 Oct;146(4):884-893.e5. PMID: 32194041
Renz H, Allen KJ, Sicherer SH, Sampson HA, Lack G, Beyer K, Oettgen HC. Food allergy. Nat Rev Dis Primers. 2018 Jan 4;4:17098. PMID: 29300005
Burton OT, Tamayo JM, Stranks AJ, Koleoglou KJ, Oettgen HC. Allergen-specific IgG antibody signaling through FcγRIIb promotes food tolerance. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2018 Jan;141(1):189-201.e3. PMID: 28479335