Alice Gilman-Sachs, PhD

Microbiology and Immunology Discipline

Center for Cancer Cell Biology, Immunology, and Infection

Dr. Gilman-Sachs received her BS in 1962 from the University of Illinois at Urbana, MS in 1964 from the University of Illinois at Urbana, and her PhD in Microbiology and Immunology in 1983 from the University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Health Sciences. She came to Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in 1985 and served as Director of the Flow Cytometry Laboratory and Associate Director of the Clinical Immunology Laboratory. She is ABMLI Board Certified in Clinical Immunology.

Dr. Gilman-Sachs retired in July 2020 and received Professor Emeritus status in March 2021.

PubMed

Research

Fifty percent of all recurrent spontaneous abortions (RSA) are unexplained and probably immune-related. My research involves the evaluation of pre- and post-immunization parameters in women who have received treatment to prevent RSA. One of the parameters studied in the past year is the ratio of TH1 vs TH2 cytokines. A successful pregnancy is supported by TH2 rather than TH1 cytokines at the maternal-fetal interface. Women with histories of recurrent spontaneous abortions may have a reversed ratio. Therefore, in this study the ratio of TH1/TH2 intracellular cytokines has been determined in women with two or more successful pregnancies and compared to women with histories of recurrent spontaneous abortions. These immune parameters are determined using peripheral blood lymphocytes and gating on CD4 and CD8 lymphocytes. The study indicates that there is indeed a difference between these two groups of women. The next set of experiments will be aimed at determining what treatments can reverse these ratios in RSA patients and allow a successful pregnancy to continue in women is being studied. 

Pregnancy loss is multifactorial and many immune related aspects are involved in it. Other factors being studied are vacuolar ATPase, activation markers on lymphocytes, natural killer cell (CD56+) cytokines, the relationship between KIR receptor genes of the female and HLA-C genes of the father in successful pregnancy, and last but not least the relationship between polymorphisms of cytokine promoters and pregnancy loss. By investigating the roles of these factors in successful or unsuccessful pregnancies, better treatment options may be utilized in women with recurrent spontaneous abortions.

Publications

• El-Azzamy H, Dambaeva SV, Katukurundage D, Salazar Garcia MD, Skariah A, Hussein Y, Germain A, Fernandez E, Gilman-Sachs A, Beaman KD, Kwak-Kim J. Dysregulated uterine natural killer cells and vascular remodeling in women with recurrent pregnancy losses.  Am J Reprod Immunol. 2018 Oct;80(4):e13024. doi: 10.1111/aji.13024. Epub 2018 Jul 31.  (PubMed)
• Gilman-Sachs A, Dambaeva S, Salazar Garcia MD, Hussein Y, Kwak-Kim J, Beaman K. Inflammation induced preterm labor and birth.  J Reprod Immunol. 2018 Sep;129:53-58. doi: 10.1016/j.jri.2018.06.029. Epub 2018 Jun 30. Review.  (PubMed)
• Dambaeva S, Schneiderman S, Jaiswal MK, Agrawal V, Katara GK, Gilman-Sachs A, Hirsch E, Beaman KD. Interleukin 22 prevents lipopolysaccharide- induced preterm labor in mice.  Biol Reprod. 2018 Mar 1;98(3):299-308. doi:10.1093/biolre/iox182.  (PubMed)
• Katara GK, Kulshrestha A, Mao L, Wang X, Sahoo M, Ibrahim S, Pamarthy S, Suzue K, Shekhawat GS, Gilman-Sachs A, Beaman KD. Mammary epithelium-specific inactivation of V-ATPase reduces stiffness of extracellular matrix and enhances metastasis of breast cancer.  Mol Oncol. 2018 Feb;12(2):208-223. doi: 10.1002/1878-0261.12159. Epub 2017 Dec 12. (PubMed)
• Bilal MY, Dambaeva S, Kwak-Kim J, Gilman-Sachs A, Beaman KD. A Role for Iodide and Thyroglobulin in Modulating the Function of Human Immune Cells.  Front Immunol. 2017 Nov 15;8:1573. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2017.01573. eCollection 2017. (PubMed)
• Salazar Garcia MD, Mobley Y, Henson J, Davies M, Skariah A, Dambaeva S, Gilman-Sachs A, Beaman K, Lampley C, Kwak-Kim J. Early pregnancy immune biomarkers in peripheral blood may predict preeclampsia.  J Reprod Immunol. 2018 Feb;125:25-31. doi: 10.1016/j.jri.2017.10.048. Epub 2017 Nov 2. (PubMed)
• Patil R, Kulshrestha A, Tikoo A, Fleetwood S, Katara G, Kolli B, Seibel W, Gilman-Sachs A, Patil SA, Beaman KD.  Identification of Novel Bisbenzimidazole Derivatives as Anticancer Vacuolar (H⁺)-ATPase Inhibitors.  Molecules. 2017 Sep 16;22(9). pii: E1559. doi: 10.3390/molecules22091559.  (PubMed)
• Davies ML, Dambaeva SV, Katukurundage D, Repak M, Gilman-Sachs A, Kwak-Kim J, Beaman KD. Predicting NK cell subsets using gene expression levels in peripheral blood and endometrial biopsy specimens.  Am J Reprod Immunol. 2017 Sep;78(3). doi: 10.1111/aji.12730. Epub 2017 Aug 3. (PubMed)
• Beaman KD, Dambaeva S, Katara GK, Kulshrestha A, Gilman-Sachs A. The immune response in pregnancy and in cancer is active and supportive of placental and tumor cell growth not their destruction.  Gynecol Oncol. 2017 Jun;145(3):476-480. doi: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2017.04.019. Epub 2017 May 3. (PubMed)
• Beaman KD, Dambaeva S, Katara GK, Kulshrestha A, Gilman-Sachs A. The immune response in pregnancy and in cancer is active and supportive of placental and tumor cell growth not their destruction. Gynecol Oncol. 2017 May 3.  (PubMed)
• Dambaeva SV, Lee DH, Sung N, Chen CY, Bao S, Gilman-Sachs A, Kwak-Kim J, Beaman KD. Recurrent Pregnancy Loss in Women with Killer Cell Immunoglobulin-Like Receptor KIR2DS1 is Associated with an Increased HLA-C2 Allelic Frequency. Am J Reprod Immunol. 2016 Feb;75(2):94-103.  (PubMed) 
• Beaman KD, Jaiswal MK, Katara GK, Kulshreshta A, Pamarthy S, Ibrahim S, Kwak-Kim J, Gilman-Sachs A. Pregnancy is a model for tumors, not transplantation. Am J Reprod Immunol. 2016 Jul;76(1):3-7  (PubMed)
• Gilman-Sachs A, Tikoo A, Akman-Anderson L, Jaiswal M, Ntrivalas E and Beaman K. Expression and role of a2 vacuolar-ATPase (a2V) in trafficking of human neutrophil granules and exocytosis. J Leukocyte Biology.2015 June (6) 97, 1121-31.  (PubMed)
• Jaiswal MK, Agrawal V, Pamarthy S, Katara GK, Kulshrestha A, Gilman-Sachs A, Beaman KD, Hirsch E. Notch Signaling in Inflammation-Induced Preterm Labor. Sci Rep. 2015 Oct 16;5:1522.  (PubMed)
• Jaiswal M.K., Katara G.K., Mallers T.M., Chaouat G., Gilman-Sachs A., Beaman K.D. (2014). Vacuolar-ATPase isoform a2 regulates macrophages and cytokine profile necessary for normal spermatogenesis in testis. Journal of Leukocyte Biology. 2014 Aug;96(2):337-47.  (PubMed)
• Ota K, Yamagishi SI, Kim M, Dambaeva S, Gilman-Sachs A, Beaman K, Kwak-Kim J. Elevation of soluble form of receptor for advanced glycation end products (sRAGE) in recurrent pregnancy losses (RPL): possible participation of RAGE in RPL. Fertil Steril. 2014 Jul 17. pii: S0015-0282(14)00543-3.  (PubMed)
• Beaman KD, Jaiswal MK, Dambaeva S, Gilman-Sachs A. Future directions of clinical laboratory evaluation of pregnancy. Cell Mol Immunol. 2014 Jul 21. doi: 10.1038/cmi.2014.62.  (PubMed)
• Katara GK, Jaiswal MK, Kulshrestha A, Kolli B, Gilman-Sachs A, Beaman KD, Tumor-associated vacuolar ATPase subunit promotes tumorigenic characteristics in macrophages. Oncogene. 2013 Dec 23.  (PubMed)
• Jaiswal MK, Agrawal V, Mallers T, Gilman-Sachs A, Hirsch E, Beaman KD., Regulation of apoptosis and innate immune stimuli in inflammation-induced preterm labor. J Immunol. 2013 Dec 1;191(11):5702-13.  (PubMed)
• Kuniaki Ota, Svetlana Dambaeva, Kenneth D. Beaman, Alice Gilman-Sachs, Joanne Kwak-Kim. Persistent high levels of IgM antiphospholipid antibodies in a patient with recurrent pregnancy losses and rheumatoid arthritis. 2013 Am J Reprod Immunol  (PubMed)
• Kuniaki Ota, Svetlana Dambaeva, Kenneth D. Beaman, Alice Gilman-Sachs, Joanne Kwak-Kim. Vitamin D deficiency may be a risk factor for recurrent pregnancy losses by increasing cellular immunity and autoimmunity. Human Reprod. 2013 Nov 24  (PubMed)
• Lee SK, Na BJ, Kim JY, Hur SE, Lee M, Gilman-Sachs A, Kwak-Kim J. Determination of Clinical Cellular Immune Markers in Women with Recurrent Pregnancy Loss. Am J Reprod Immunol. 2013 May 9. doi: 10.1111/aji.12137.  (PubMed)
• Kwong C, Gilman-Sachs A, Beaman K. An independent endocytic pathway stimulates different monocyte subsets by the a2 N-terminus domain of vacuolar-ATPase. Oncoimmunology. 2013 Jan 1;2(1):e22978.  (PubMed)
• Jaiswal MK, Mallers TM, Larsen B, Kwak-Kim J, Chaouat G, Gilman-Sachs A, Beaman KD. V-ATPase upregulation during early pregnancy: a possible link to establishment of an inflammatory response during preimplantation period of pregnancy. Reproduction. 2012 May;143(5):713-25. doi: 10.1530/REP-12-0036. Epub 2012 Mar 27.  (PubMed)
• Beaman KD, Ntrivalas E, Mallers TM, Jaiswal MK, Kwak-Kim J, Gilman-Sachs A. Immune etiology of recurrent pregnancy loss and its diagnosis. Am J Reprod Immunol. 2012 Apr;67(4):311-8. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0897.2012.01116.x. Epub 2012 Mar 1. Review.  (PubMed)
• Ntrivalas E, Levine R, Kwong C, Gilman-Sachs A, Beaman K. The a2 isoform of vacuolar ATPase is a modulator of implantation and feto-maternal immune tolerance in early pregnancy. J Reprod Immunol. 2010 May;85(1):106-11  (PubMed)