Nikola L. Vujanovic, MD, PhD
Professor of Pathology and Immunology


Dr. Vujanovic is a member of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute.

Office Location:
HCC Rm G.17D
5117 Center Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15232 		Contact Information:
Office Telephone: 412-623-3211
Fax: 412-623-1119
Email: vujanovicnl@upmc.edu

Education

  • MD - School of Medicine, University of Belgrade, 1966
  • PhD - School of Medicine, University of Belgrade, 1978

Research Expertise

Dr. Vujanovic studies the antitumor mechanisms of innate immunity effector cells and their regulation. Specifically, he explores tumor necrosis factor (TNF) family ligands as mediators of tumoricidal activity, interactions of natural killer (NK) cells and dendritic cells (DCs) and regulation of both innate and adaptive antitumor immunity.

Selected Publications

View Dr. Vujanovic's publications on PubMed

Vujanovic NL, Herberman R, Maghazachi A, Hiserodt J. Lymphokine activated killer cells in rats. III. A simple method for the purification and rapid expansion of lymphokine activated killer cells. J. Expt. Med. 167:15, 1988. PMID: 3257251

Chambers WH, Vujanovic NL, DeLeo AB, Olszowy MW, Herberman RB, Hiserodt JC. Monoclonal antibody to triggering structure expressed on rat natural killer cells and adherent lymphokine-activated killer cells. J. Expt. Med. 169:1373, 1989. PMID: 2466943

Vujanovic NL, Nagashima S, Herberman RB, Whiteside TL. Non-secretory apoptotic killing by human natural killer cells. J. Immunol. 157:1117-1126,1996. PMID: 8757616

Shaw SG, Maung AA, Steptoe RJ, Thomson AW, Vujanovic NL. Expansion of functional natural killer cells in multiple tissue compartments of mice treated with Flt3-ligand: Implication for anti-cancer and anti-viral therapy. J. Immunol. 161:2817-2824,1998. PMID: 9743341

Kashii Y, Giorda R, Herberman RB, Whiteside TL, Vujanovic NL. Constitutive expression and role of the TNF family ligands in apoptotic killing by human NK cells. J.Immunol. 163:5358-5366, 1999. PMID: 10553060

Janjic BM, Lu G, Pimenov A, Whiteside TL, Storkus WJ., Vujanovic NL. Innate direct anticancer effector function of human immature dendritic cells. I. Involvement of a potent apoptosis-inducing pathway. J. Immunol. 2002, 168: 1823-1830. PMID: 11823515

Lu G, Janjic BM, Janjic J, Whiteside TL, Storkus WJ., Vujanovic NL. Innate direct anticancer effector function of human immature dendritic cells. I. Role of TNF, LT-?1?2, Fas ligand and TRAIL. J. Immunol. 2002, 168: 1831-1839. PMID: 11823516

Li S, Xu J, Makarenkova VP, Tjandrawan T, Vakkila J, Reichert T, Gooding W, Lagenaur CF, Achim CL, Chambers WH, Herberman RB, Whiteside TL, and Vujanovic NL. A novel epitope of N-CAM defines precursors of human adherent NK cells. J. Leuk.Biol. 2004, 76, 1187-1199. PMID: 15356097

Makarenkova V, Chakrabarti AK, Liberatore JA, Popovic P, Lu G, Watkins S, and Vujanovic NL. Dendritic cells and natural killer cells interact via multiple TNF family molecules. J. Leuk. Biol., 2005, 77, 408-413. PMID: 15604121

Huang J, Tatsumi T, Pizzoferrato E, Vujanovic NL, and Storkus WJ. Nitric oxide sensitizes tumor cells to dendritic cell-mediated apoptosis, uptake, and cross-presentation. Cancer Res. 2005, 65, 8461-8460. PMID: 16166326

Xu J, Chakrabarti AK, Liberatore J, Ge L, Gamboto A, and Vujanovic NL. Essential role of TNF-TNFR2 cognate interaction in dendritic cell-natural killer cell cross-talk. Blood. 2007. 109:3333-3341. PMID: 17164346

Tian F, Cutts J, Vujanovic NL, and Li LY. The Endothelial Cell-Produced Anti-Angiogenic Cytokine Vascular Endothelial Growth Inhibitor (VEGI) Induces Dendritic Cell Maturation. J. Immunol. 2007, 179, 3742-3751. PMID: 17785811

Pilbeam, K., N.L. Vujanovic, L. Brossay, P. Basse, R. Gerstein, A.N. Vallejo and L. Borghesi. Incomplete V(D)J rearrangements trace the development and clonal origins of natural killer cells. J. Immunology. 2008, 180, 1432-1441. PMID: 18209038

Ge L, Baskic D, Basse P, Vujanovic L, Unlu S, Yoneyama T, Sobo A, Han J, Bankovic D, Szczepanski MJ, Hunt JL, Herberman RB, Gollin SM, Ferris RL, Whiteside TL, Myers EN, and Vujanovic NL. Sheddase activity of tumor necrosis factor-a converting enzyme is increased and prognostically valuable in head and neck cancer. Cancer. Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev. 2009, 18, 2913-2922. PMCID: PMC2784191

Vujanovic L, DE Szymkowski, NL Vujanovic, and LH Butterfield. Virally-infected and cytokine-matured human dendritic cells activate natural killer cells via cooperative activity of plasma membrane-bound TNF and IL-15. Blood. 2010, 116, 575-583.

Vujanovic N.L. Role of TNF superfamily ligands in innate immunity. Immunol Res. 2011, 50, 159-174