Researchers

Brian M. Baker, Ph.D.

Brian M. Baker, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Contact Information

Biography

Professor Baker received his B.S. degree in biochemistry in 1992 from New Mexico State University. He earned his Ph.D. degree in 1997 in biochemistry from the University of Iowa where he studied the relationships between structure and thermodynamics in protein binding reactions. During subsequent postdoctoral work as a Cancer Research Institute fellow at Harvard University he investigated how the structure and physical properties of T cell antigen receptors translate into immunological function. In 2001, he joined the faculty of the University of Notre Dame as assistant professor.

Research Interests

Professor Baker's interests are in the structural biology and biophysics of molecular recognition in the immune system. His laboratory focuses on the physical basis for antigen recognition and T cell activation and the development of improved cancer vaccine candidates.

Publications

Borbulevych O, Baxter T, Yu Z, Restifo NP, Baker BM. Increased immunogenicity of an anchor-modified tumor associated antigen is due to the enhanced stability of the peptide/MHC complex: implications for vaccine design. J Immunol 2005; 174: 4812-4820.

Davis-Harrison RL, Armstrong KM, Baker BM. Two different T cell receptors use different thermodynamic strategies to recognize the same peptide/MHC ligand. J Mol Biol 2005; 346: 533-550. link

Yu Z, Theoret MR, Touloukian CE, Surman DR, Garman SC, Feigenbaum L, Baxter TK, Baker BM, Restifo NP. Poor immunogenicity of a self/tumor antigen derives from peptide/MHC-I instability and is independent of tolerance. J Clin Invest 2004; 114: 551-559. link

Baxter TK, Gagnon SJ, Davis-Harrison RL, Beck JC, Binz AK, Turner RV, Biddison WE, Baker BM. Strategic mutations in the class I MHC HLA-A2 independently affect both peptide binding and T cell receptor recognition. J Biol Chem 2004; 279: 29175-29184. link

Binz AK, Rodriguez RC, Biddison WE, Baker BM. Thermodynamic and kinetic analysis of a peptide-class I MHC interaction highlights the noncovalent nature and conformational dynamics of the class I heterotrimer. Biochemistry 2003; 42: 4954-4961. link

Wang Z, Turner R, Baker BM, Biddison WE. MHC allele-specific molecular features determine peptide/HLA-A2 conformations that are recognized by HLA-A2-restricted T cell receptors. J Immunol 2002; 169: 3146-3154. link

Cells