
Daved Fremont, PhD
Professor, Pathology & Immunology
Contact
- Email: fremont@wustl.edu
- Phone: 314-747-6547
Division: Immunobiology
Lab Phone: 314-747-4546
Office Location: CSRB, Room 7701
Titles
Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics
Professor, Molecular Microbiology
DBBS Graduate Program Affiliation
Member, Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences Admissions Committee
Service to the University
1999 – Present
Lecturer in Foundations in Immunology, Protein Structure and Function, Protein Crystallography, and Molecular Cell Biology
1998 – Present
Member, Molecular Biophysics Graduate Program Steering Committee
Research Interests
Our research group is focused on understanding surveillance processes of the immune system, and the sabotage mechanisms used by pathogens to evade detection and host-mediated elimination. We use the techniques of protein biochemistry, x-ray crystallography and computational biology to determine the three-dimensional structures of proteins and investigate their macromolecular interactions. Current interests of the lab include proteins associated with classical MHC antigen processing and presentation pathways, non-classical MHC family members and natural killer cell activating and inhibitory receptors. We are also actively studying a number of virally encoded proteins that enable host immune evasion. Large-DNA viruses (i.e. herpesviruses and poxviruses) have evolved a myriad of strategies that include the sabotage of antigen processing, the molecular mimicry of host signaling molecules and the sequestration of cytokines and chemokines by novel decoy receptors. Our approach to investigate these systems is based on the production of large quantities of soluble protein in heterologous expression systems, allowing for cognate ligand/ receptor discovery, biophysical interaction analyses, high-resolution structure determinations and targeted functional studies. Together, these approaches provide a wealth of information on the basic tools with which the immune system operates.
Selected Publications
Structural basis for plasticity in receptor engagement by an encephalitic alphavirus
Publication
Itaconate modulates immune responses via inhibition of peroxiredoxin 5
Publication
A trivalent mucosal vaccine encoding phylogenetically inferred ancestral RBD sequences confers pan-Sarbecovirus protection in mice
Publication
Chikungunya virus E2 B domain nanoparticle immunogen elicits homotypic neutralizing antibody in mice
Publication
Assistant
