Assistant Class

CURRICULUM VITAE

Egest J. Pone, Ph.D.

Born in 1977, Albanian citizen, US permanent resident.

Contact information:

***** ****** **.

Irvine, CA 92617

Email: *******@*****.***

Phone: 949-***-****

EDUCATION:

Ph.D. in Biological Sciences, 2009, University of California, Irvine, USA.

M.Sc. in Chemistry, 2004, University of California, Irvine, USA.

B.Sc. in Biology (summa cum laude), 2000, Palm Beach Atlantic College, West Palm Beach, FL,

USA.

POSITIONS:

Aug. 2009-present: Post-doctoral fellow, Casali Laboratory, Institute for Immunology

Department of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, CA.

May 2004- Jul. 2009: Graduate Student Researcher and Teaching Assistant, School of

Biological Sciences, University of California, Irvine, CA.

Jul. 2001- Apr. 2004: Graduate Student Researcher and Teaching Assistant, Department

of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, CA.

HONORS AND AWARDS:

3rd Prize in Graduate Student Poster Competition, 6th Annual UC Irvine

2008

Immunology Fair, University of California, Irvine, CA.

2002-2003 UC System-Wide Biotechnology Research and Education Program Fellow, Dept.

Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, CA.

1996-2000 Frederick M. Supper Honors Scholar, Palm Beach Atlantic College, West Palm

Beach, FL.

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SCIENTIFIC AND TEACHING SKILLS:

Immunology: characterization of B cell activation and differentiation in response to antigen

or other receptors (CD40, BAFF, TLRs etc.) by monitoring intracellular Ca2+ changes; cell

proliferation and death; activation of canonical and non-canonical NF-κB pathways).

Characterization of T-independent & T-dependent antibody responses in vitro and in

genetically modified mice in vivo using techniques such as flow cytometry, enzyme-linked

immunosorbent assay (ELISA), PCR and immunoblotting, with special expertise in analysis of

immunoglobulin class-switching.

Molecular Biology: PCR (standard, reverse-transcription, and real time); molecular cloning

and mutagenesis, sequencing and analysis.

Biochemistry: protein expression in E.coli, yeast, insect, and mammalian cells; protein

purification via affinity columns (His-tag, GST-tag) and fast performance liquid

chromatography (FPLC) using affinity, cation, and anion exchange resins; protein and

peptide purification by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC); ATPase, helicase,

RNase and deaminase enzyme assays and analysis; measurement of DNA-protein

interactions by electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA), DNase I and hydroxyradical

footprinting and surface plasmon resonance (SPR).

Cell Biology: mammalian cell line maintenance (including mouse and human cells),

chemical and electrochemical transfection, viral vector construction & transduction; gene

expression analysis via reporter constructs; subcellular fractionation; co-immunoprecipitation

(Co-IP) and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP).

Bioinformatics: database searching; protein characterization; homology modeling of protein

structure; modeling of protein-ligand interactions.

Biophysics: expression of 1H, 2H, 13C, 15N, isotope-labeled proteins, purification, sample

preparation, and one dimensional (1D), 2D, 3D NMR data acquisition, analysis and

interpretation.

Organic Chemistry: basic organic and peptide synthesis, purification, and analysis by thin

layer chromatography (TLC), infrared (IR) spectroscopy, mass spectrometry (MS), and

nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).

Data Analysis and Scientific Writing: design and interpretation of biological experiments

with associated statistical analysis; construction of scientific graphs using programs such as

Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, EndNote, FloJo, GraphPad Prism, UCSF Chimera etc.;

contributor to several manuscripts and National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants in the Casali

laboratory, UC Irvine; reviewer for several manuscripts for the journal Autoimmunity.

Teaching: As a Teaching Assistant (TA) for two dozen undergraduate and graduate lecture

and laboratory courses (organic chemistry, biology, biochemistry, molecular biology, cell &

developmental biology, immunology), I am proficient in designing course syllabi, lecturing in a

classroom or laboratory setting, administering homework, quizzes and exams, assigning

student course grades, and conducting statistical evaluation of class performance. In

addition, I have trained several undergraduate and graduate students and research staff in a

variety of experimental techniques at the University of California, Irvine.

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PUBLICATIONS:

1. Pone, E. J., T., Xu, Z. and P. Casali. 2013. Synergizing and tolerizing TLR4 and TLR9

interactions in immunoglobulin class switch recombination. Autoimmunity. In submission.

2. Pone, E. J., Lam, T., Xu, Z. and P. Casali. 2013. B cell Rab7 plays a critical role in T-dependent

and T-independent antibody responses by regulating immunoglobulin class switch DNA

recombination. J. Immunol. In submission.

3. White, C. A., Pone, E. J., Hayama, K. L., Lam, T., Li, G., Zan, H. and P. Casali. 2013. Epigenetic

modulation of antibody and autoantibody responses by microRNA-mediated inhibition of AID

expression and plasma cell differentiation. Nature Immunol. In submission.

4. Lam, T., Thomas, L. M., White, C. A., Li, G., Pone, E. J., Xu, Z. and P. Casali1. 2013. Scaffold

functions of 14-3-3 adaptors in B cell class switch DNA recombination. PLOS One, in press.

5. Li, G., Lam, T., White, C. A., Tran, D. C., Pone, E. J, Mai, T., Zan, H., Xu, Z. and P. Casali. 2013.

Combinatorial H3K9acS10ph histone modifications in IgH locus S regions target 14-3-3 adaptor and

AID to specify antibody class switch. Cell Reports, in press.

6. Mai, T., Pone, E. J, Li, G., Lam, T.S., Moehlman, J., Xu, Z. and P. Casali. 2013. Induction of

activation-induced cytidine deaminase-targeting adaptor 14-3-3γ is mediated by NF-κB-dependent

recruitment of CFP1 to the 5'-CpG-3'-rich 14-3-3γ promoter and is sustained by E2A. J. Immunol,

191:1895-1906.

7. Li, G., Pone, E. J., Tran, D., Patel, P. J., Dao, L., Xu, Z. and P. Casali. 2012. Iron inhibits activation-

induced cytidine deaminase enzymatic activity and modulates immunoglobulin class switch DNA

recombination. J. Biol. Chem. 287: 215**-*****.

8. Xu, Z., Zan, H., Pone, E.J., Mai, T. and P. Casali. 2012. Immunoglobulin class switch DNA

recombination: induction, targeting and beyond. Nature Rev. Immunol. 12: 517-531.

9. Pone, E.J., Xu, Z., White, C. A., Zan, H. and P. Casali. 2012. B cell TLRs and induction of

immunoglobulin class-switch DNA recombination. Front. Biosci. 17: 2594-2615.

10. Pone, E.J., Zhang, J., Mai, T., White, C. A., Li, G., Sakakura, J., Patel, P., Al-Qahtani, A., Zan, H.,

Xu, Z. and P. Casali. 2012. BCR-signalling signaling synergizes with TLR-signalling to induce AID

and immunoglobulin class-switching through the non-canonical NF-κB pathway. Nature Commun.

3:767. doi:10.1038/ncomms1769.

11. White, C.A., Hawkins, J.S., Pone, E.J., Yu, E.S., Al-Qahtani, A., Mai, T., Zan, H. and P. Casali.

2011. AID dysregulation in lupus-prone MRL/Faslpr/lpr mice increases class switch DNA

recombination and promotes interchromosomal c-Myc/IgH loci translocations: Modulation by HoxC4.

Autoimmunity. 44: 585-598.

12. Zan, H., Zhang, J., Al-Qahtani, A., Pone, E. J., White, C. A., Lee, D., Yel, L., Mai, T. and P. Casali.

2011. Endonuclease G plays a role in immunoglobulin class switch DNA recombination by

introducing double-strand breaks in switch regions. Mol. Immunol. 48: 610-622.

13. Pone, E.J., Zan, H., Zhang, J., Al-Qahtani, A., Xu, Z. and P. Casali. 2010. Toll-like receptors and B-

cell receptors synergize to induce immunoglobulin class-switch DNA recombination: relevance to

microbial antibody responses. Crit. Rev. Immunol. 30: 1-29.

14. Xu, Z., Fulop, Z., Wu, G., Park, S.-R., Zhang, J., Pone, E. J., Al-Qahtani, A., Mai, T., Steinacker, P.,

Li, Z., Yates III, J.R., Herron, B., Otto, M., Zan, H., Fu, H. and P. Casali. 2010. 14-3-3 adaptor

proteins recruit AID to 5'-AGCT-3'-rich switch regions for class switch recombination. Nature Struct.

Mol. Biol. 17: 1124-1135.

15. Park, S. R., Zan, H., Pal, Z., Zhang, J., Al-Qahtani, A., Pone, E. J., Xu, Z., Mai, T. and P. Casali.

2009. HoxC4 binds to the promoter of the cytidine deaminase AID gene to induce AID expression,

class-switch DNA recombination and somatic hypermutation. Nature Immunol. 10: 540-550.

16. Xu, Z., Pone, E. J., Al-Qahtani, A., Park, S. R., Zan, H. and P. Casali. 2007. Regulation of Aicda

expression and AID activity: relevance to somatic hypermutation and class switch DNA

recombination. Crit. Rev. Immunol. 27: 367-397.

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