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Research and Clinical Interests

Dr. Roth has a longstanding interest in DNA repair and the mechanisms of programmed gene rearrangements during lymphocyte differentiation. His lab is currently investigating mechanisms by which the V(D)J recombinase (the Rag proteins), which catalyzes these rearrangements, collaborates with the cellular DNA repair machinery to prevent oncogenic chromosome rearrangements that frequently underlie leukemias and lymphomas. His other clinical interests include Omenn syndrome and SCID.

Selected Publications

Deriano L, Stracker TH, Baker A, Petrini JH, Roth DB. Roles for NBS1 in Alternative Nonhomologous End-Joining of V(D)J Recombination Intermediates. Mol Cell. 2009 Apr 10;34(1):13-25. Cited in Pubmed; PMID 19362533. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2009.03.009.

Wong SY*, Lu CP*, Roth DB. A RAG1 mutation found in Omenn Syndrome causes coding flank hypersensitivity: a novel mechanism for antigen receptor repertoire. J Immunol. 2008 Sep 15;181(6):4124-30. Cited in Pubmed; PMID 18768869.

Dynan W, Takeda Y, Roth D, Bao G. Understanding and re-engineering nucleoprotein machines to cure human disease. Nanomed. 2008 Feb;3(1):93-105. Cited in Pubmed; PMID 18393669. doi: 10.2217/17435889.3.1.93.

Brandt VL, Roth DB. G.O.D.'s Holy Grail: discovery of the RAG proteins. J Immunol. 2008 Jan 1;180(1):3-4. Cited in Pubmed; PMID 18096995.

Corneo B, Wendland RL, Deriano L, Cui X, Klein IA, Wong SY, Arnal S, Holub AJ, Weller GR, Pancake BA, Shah S, Brandt VL, Meek K, Roth DB. Rag mutations reveal robust alternative end joining. Nature. 2007 Sep 27;449(7161):483–6. Cited in Pubmed; PMID 17898768. doi: 10.1038/nature06168.

Lu CP, Sandoval H, Brandt V, Rice PA, Roth DB. Amino acid residues in Rag1 crucial for DNA hairpin formation. Nat Struct Mol Biol. 2006 Nov;13(11):1010–5. Epub 2006 Oct 8. Cited in Pubmed; PMID 17028591.

Posey JE, Pytlos MJ, Sinden RR, Roth DB. Target DNA structure plays a critical role in RAG transposition. PLoS Biology. 2006 Nov;4(11):e350. Cited in Pubmed; PMID 17105341. PMCID: PMC1618415.

Lee GS, Neiditch MB, Salus SS, Roth DB. RAG proteins shepherd double-strand breaks to a specific repair pathway, suppressing error-prone repair, but RAG nicking stimulates homologous recombination. Cell. 2004 Apr 16;117(2):171–84. Cited in Pubmed; PMID 15084256.

Lee GS, Neiditch MB, Sinden RR, Roth DB. Targeted transposition by the V(D)J recombinase. Mol Cell Biol. 2002 Apr;22(7):2068–77. Cited in Pubmed; PMID 1884595. PMCID: PMC133684.

Neiditch MB, Lee GS, Huye LE, Brandt VL, Roth DB. The V(D)J recombinase efficiently cleaves and transposes signal joints. Mol Cell. 2002 Apr;9(4):871–78. Cited in Pubmed; PMID 11983177.

Landree MA, Kale SB, Roth DB. Functional organization of single and paired V(D)J cleavage complexes. Mol Cell Biol. 2001 Jul;21(13):4256–64. Cited in Pubmed; PMID 11390654. PMCID: PMC87086.

Yarnell Schultz H, Landree MA, Qiu JX, Kale SB, Roth DB. Joining-deficient RAG1 mutants block V(D)J recombination in vivo and hairpin opening in vitro. Mol Cell. 2001 Jan;7(1):65–75. Cited in Pubmed; PMID 11172712.

Qiu JX, Kale SB, Yarnell Schultz H, Roth DB. Separation-of-function mutants reveal critical roles for RAG2 in both the cleavage and joining steps of V(D)J recombination. Mol Cell. 2001 Jan;7(1):77–87. Cited in Pubmed; PMID 11172713.

Landree MA, Wibbenmeyer JA, Roth DB. Mutational analysis of RAG1 and RAG2 identifies three catalytic amino acids in RAG1 critical for both cleavage steps of V(D)J recombination. Genes Dev. 1999 Dec 1;13(23):3059–69. Cited in Pubmed; PMID 10601032. PMCID: PMC317185.

Han JO, Steen SB, Roth DB. Intermolecular V(D)J recombination is prohibited specifically at the joining step. Mol Cell. 1999 Mar;3(3):331–8. Cited in Pubmed; PMID 10198635.

Selected Books

Brandt V, Roth DB. Recent insights into the formation of RAG-induced chromosomal translocations. In: Ferrier P, editor. V(D)J Recombination. Austin, Texas: Landes Bioscience and Springer Science + Business Media; 2008.

Roitt IM, Brostoff J, Roth DB, Male DK, editors. Immunology. 7th edition. London: Mosby Press (English, Russian, Italian, and Turkish editions published); 2006.

Travis WD, Roth DB. Histopathologic evaluation of lung biopsies in the immunosuppressed host. In: Shelhamer J, Pizzo PA, Parillo JE, Masur H, editors. Respiratory Disease in the Immunosuppressed Host. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Co; 1991. pp. 182–217.

Roth DB, Wilson JH. Illegitimate recombination in mammalian cells (review). In: Kucherlapati R, Smith GD, editors. Genetic Recombination. 2nd ed. Washington, DC: ASM Press; 1988. pp. 621-653.

Organizational Associations

Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society; American Association of University Pathologists; The Harvey Society; Editorial Board, Nucleic Acids Research

Selected Awards

1997-2002 Assistant Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
1998 Innovative Teaching Award from the American Medical Association
1995-1998 Charles E. Culpeper Medical Scholar
1991-1993 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship for Physicians
1988 M.D. with High Honors, Baylor College of Medicine
1986-1988 Hudson Scholar, M.D./Ph.D. Program, Baylor College of Medicine
1977-1981 National Merit/Cohn Scholar, Rice University

2008 Distinguished Teacher in the Basic Sciences Award, NYU Medical School Class of 2008
2006 Teacher of the Year Award, NYU Medical School Class of 2009
2005 Teacher of the Year, First Year Medical Students (NYU)
2002 Teaching Excellence Award from Baylor Graduate Students
2001 Teaching Excellence Award from Baylor Graduate Students
2000 Outstanding Teacher Award, BCM Second Year Medical School Class
1999 Best Syllabus Award for Immunology Course from Medical School students
1999 Teaching Excellence Award from Baylor Graduate Students

Hospital Affiliations

Tisch Hospital

Additional Information

David Roth's PathTalk