Ellen Weinberg

Research/Areas of Interest

My research interests include the interleukin-1 receptor family member, ST2 and its ligand, IL-33 in inflammation. Since soluble ST2 is a secreted protein, we assayed for soluble ST2 in the serum of patients with myocardial infarction and heart failure. Elevated ST2 levels were correlated with clinical parameters and provided prognostic information. Serum ST2 is also elevated in eosinophilic pulmonary diseases, sepsis and infection, and inflammatory arthritis. Soluble ST2 is a decoy receptor that interferes with IL-33 signaling through full-length membrane ST2 receptor (ST2L). We have generated IL-33 knockout mice to evaluate the role of the IL-33/ST2 system in immune/inflammatory disease models in which soluble ST2 is increased. Work in collaboration with Caroline Genco is focused on the role of TLRs and innate immune receptors in pathogen-induced atherosclerosis and bone remodeling. We have extensive expertise in genome-wide transcriptional profiling and in mouse models of pathogen-mediated chronic inflammation, knockout and transgenic strategies, including Cre-lox mediated cell-specific gene deletion.