Associate Professor of Surgery, Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine
Associate Professor of Biological and Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering

NextGen Focus Area: Cancer and Immunology

Diana Gil Pagés investigates how antigen recognition by T-cell receptors (TCRs) turns on cell adaptive immune function. Specifically, she is focused on the TCR-associated CD3 multiprotein complex and is the principal discoverer of the CD3 conformational change (CD3Dc), which is at the foundation of her ongoing research. She is studying various levels of control exercised over CD3Dc, including structural, biochemical, developmental and physiological aspects.

Precision Health Impact:

• Development of novel cancer immunotherapies targeting T cells.  
• Clinical translation of cancer immunotherapies.  

Publications:

• Hoffmann MM, Molina-Mendiola C, Nelson AD, Parks CA, Reyes EE, Hansen MJ, et al. Co-potentiation of antigen recognition: A mechanism to boost weak T cell responses and provide immunotherapy in vivo. Sci Adv. 2015 Oct;1(9):e1500415.
• Nelson AD, Hoffmann MM, Parks CA, Dasari S, Schrum AG, Gil D. IgG Fab fragments forming bivalent complexes by a conformational mechanism that is reversible by osmolytes. J Biol Chem. 2012 Dec 14;287(51):42936–50.
• Smith SEP, Neier SC, Reed BK, Davis TR, Sinnwell JP, Eckel-Passow JE, et al. Multiplex matrix network analysis of protein complexes in the human TCR signalosome. Sci Signal. 2016 Aug 2;9(439):rs7.
• Becher LRE, Nevala WK, Sutor SL, Abergel M, Hoffmann MM, Parks CA, et al. Public and private human T-cell clones respond differentially to HCMV antigen when boosted by CD3 copotentiation. Blood Adv. 2020 Nov 10;4(21):5343–56.
• Neier SC, Ferrer A, Wilton KM, Smith SEP, Kelcher AMH, Pavelko KD, et al. The early proximal αβ TCR signalosome specifies thymic selection outcome through a quantitative protein interaction network. Sci Immunol. 2019 Feb 15;4(32):eaal2201. 

     Google Scholar

     PubMed

     ResearchGate

Email: GilPagesd@health.missouri.edu
Department website: https://medicine.missouri.edu/faculty/diana-gil-pages-phd