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Hidde L. Ploegh, Ph.D., is the Edward Mallinckrodt Jr. Professor
of Immunopathology in the Department of Pathology and the
director of the Graduate Program in Immunology at Harvard
Medical School. Ploegh studies the biochemistry of antigen
presentation, or the MHC Class I or II molecules that
present short peptides to T lymphocytes.
Since viruses are capable of a large range of evasive maneuvers
when MHC-activated T cells exert selective pressure on virus-infected
cells, Ploegh’s laboratory studies the steps that lead
from the production of cytosolic peptides to the assembly
of a peptide-loaded MHC molecule. This work focuses in particular
on the various mechanisms by which viruses manage to elude
this presentation pathway.
Ploegh’s laboratory has observed the human cytomegalovirus
(HCMV) in two HCMV-encoded gene products, US2 and US11, targeting
newly synthesized MHC Class I molecules for extraction from
the endoplasmic reticulum and delivery to the cytosol, where
the MHC Class I heavy chains are destroyed by the proteasome.
Other strategies are used by pathogens to elude MHC Class
II molecules since those essentially rely on endosomal/lysosomal
proteolysis to accomplish peptide loading, and hence are distinct
from the cell biological mechanisms used by MHC Class I products.
Ploegh received his B.Sc. in biology and M.Sc. in biology
and chemistry from the State University of Groningen, The
Netherlands. He received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the
State University of Leiden, The Netherlands, in 1981 after
conducting his thesis work at Harvard University in the
laboratory of Dr. J.L. Strominger. From 1981 to 1992, Ploegh
held scientific posts in Europe, including head of the Department
of Cellular Biochemistry at the Netherlands Cancer Institute
in Amsterdam. In 1992, Ploegh came to the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology as professor of biology, and in 1997
accepted his current position at Harvard Medical School.
The Philip Levine Memorial Lecture was established in 1977
by Philip Levine (1900-1987) to bring speakers in the areas
of cancer, genetics and immunology to The Rockefeller University.
A member of the scientific staff at The Rockefeller Institute
for Medical Research from 1925 to 1932, Levine studied
human blood groups with Nobel laureate Karl Landsteiner.
For additional information, please call
Ms. Gloria Phipps at (212) 327-8967.
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