MICHAEL F. CRISCITIELLO

Assistant Professor
Department of Veterinary Pathobiology

Department of Veterinary Pathobiology
College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Texas A&M University
4467 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-4467
Phone: 979.845.4207
Office: 105 VMR
Email: mcriscitiello@cvm.tamu.edu
Department Web Page

Keywords: immunology, antigen receptors, origins of adaptive immunity, evolution of lymphoid structure

Interests:
My group is interested in diverse mechanisms by which adaptive immunity can be mediated: novel receptors, novel cells, novel lymphoid architectures, novel paratopes and novel systems for repertoire generation and selection. These have been devised by natural selection and battle-tested in the myriad of vertebrate adaptive immune systems. By studying unconventional comparative models such as shark and frog, hypotheses of immune system origins and natural history are tested while discovering new ways of achieving lymphocyte repertoires that protect against pathogens while limiting autoimmunity and hypersensitivity.

Selected Publications:
Wright, K.L., B.J. Vilen, Y.I. Lindstrom, T.L. Moore, G. Li, M.F. Criscitiello, P. Cogswell, J.B. Clarke, and J.P. Ting. "CCAAT box binding protein NF-Y facilitates in vivo recruitment of upstream DNA binding transcription factors." The EMBO Journal 13, 4042-4053, 1994.

Criscitiello, M.F., R. Benedetto, A. Antao, M.R. Wilson, V.G. Chinchar, N.W. Miller, L.W. Clem, and T.J. McConnell. "b₂-microglobulin of Ictalurid catfishes." Immunogenetics 48, 339-343, 1998.

Ohta, Y., E.C. McKinney, M.F. Criscitiello, and M.F. Flajnik. "Proteasome, transporter associated with antigen processing, and class I genes in the nurse shark Ginglymostoma cirratum: evidence for a stable class I region and MHC haplotype lineages." The Journal of Immunology, 168, 771-781, 2002.

Criscitiello, M.F., S.M. Kamper, E.C. McKinney. "Allelic polymorphism of TCR a chain constant domain genes in the bicolor damselfish." Developmental and Comparative Immunology, 28, 781-792, 2004.

Criscitiello, M.F., N.E. Wermenstam, L. Pilstrom and E.C. McKinney. "Allelic polymorphism of T cell receptor constant domains is widespread in fishes."  Immunogenetics 55, 818-824, 2004.

Criscitiello, M.F., M. Saltis and M.F. Flajnik. "An evolutionarily mobile antigen receptor variable region gene: doubly rearranging NAR-TcR genes in sharks." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 103(13):5036-41, 2006.

Hsu, E. and M.F. Criscitiello. "Diverse immunoglobulin light chain organizations in fish retain potential to revise receptor specificities." The Journal of Immunology, 177(4):2452-62, 2006.

Criscitiello, M.F. and M.F. Flajnik. "Lambda and kappa are two of four primordial immunoglobulin light chain isotypes." European Journal of Immunology, 37(10):2683-94, 2007.

Saltis M., M.F. Criscitiello, Y. Ohta, M. Keefe, N.S. Trede, R. Goitsuka and M.F. Flajnik. "Evolutionarily conserved and divergent regions of the autoimmune regulator (Aire) gene: a comparative analysis." Immunogenetics, 60(2):105-14, 2008.