John McCormick

Our laboratory has a primary focus on bacterial exotoxins produced by the bacterial pathogens Streptococcus pyogenes and Staphylococcus aureus. One major focus is on the bacterial superantigens which function by directly activating T cells of the adaptive immune system, and we are interested in understanding how the toxins contribute to both colonization and disease. In addition, we are interested in mechanistic studies of toxic shock syndrome, and in particular the regulatory cues that control expression of the superantigen toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1). Lastly, we are engineering superantigens for use as targeted anti-cancer immunotherapeutics.