Research Program: Immunology
Associate Professor, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology
Faculty Outreach Coordinator, University of Minnesota Cancer Center

penne001@umn.edu
612-625-7138 — office
612-625-0453 — lab
Preferred contact method: e-mail

Dr. Pennell received his Ph.D. in genetics (immunology) from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in 1984. He conducted postdoctoral training in the laboratories of Drs. David Scott (University of Rochester Cancer Center) and Stephen Clarke (University of North Carolina Chapel Hill) before joining the faculty at the University of Minnesota in 1991. He became a member of the University of Minnesota Cancer Center in 1994 where his research interests lie in exploiting the immune system for cancer therapy.

Research Interests

The major goal of our research is to devise novel vaccines for cancer therapy. These vaccines contain two parts: small tumor-derived proteins that can be recognized by the immune system linked to other proteins that help initiate a potent anti-tumor immune response. So our vaccines have a one-two punch: they both efficiently deliver tumor-associated proteins to the immune system and activate tumor-specific immune effector cells. We are using mouse models to understand how these vaccines work at the molecular and cellular levels, and human systems to identify potent vaccines for the treatment of diseases such as breast cancer.

Selected Publications

Erickson, H.A., Reinhardt, R.L, Hermanson, J.B., Panoskaltsis-Mortari, A., and Pennell, C.A. 2001. Visualization of immunotoxin-mediated tumor cell killing in vivo. Clin. Canc. Res. 7:890S-4S.

Harmala, L.A.E., Ingulli, E.G., Curtsinger, J.M., Lucido, M.M, Schmidt, C.S. Weigel, B.J., Blazar, B.R., Mescher, M.F. and Pennell, C.A. 2002. The adjuvant effects of Mycobacterium tuberculosis heat shock protein 70 result from the rapid and prolonged activation of antigen-specific CD8+ T cells in vivo. J. Immunol. 169:5622-9.

Foss, D.L., Bennaars, A., Pennell, C.A., Moody, M.D., and Murtaugh, M.P. 2003. Differentiation of porcine dendritic cells by granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor expressed in Pichia pastoris. Vet. Immunol. Immunopathol. 91:205-15.

Erickson, H.A., Jund, M.D. and Pennell, C.A. 2006. Cytotoxicity of human RNase-based immunotoxins requires cytosolic access and resistance to ribonuclease inhibition. Prot. Eng. Des Sel. 19:37-45.

Pennell, C.A. and Heggem, M.A. Heat shock protein cell surface receptors. In Heat Shock Proteins in Biology and Medicine, 2006:105-118. ISBN: 81-0105-1.