Abstracts

Regulation of Immune Responses during Airway Inflammation

by Melissa Harintho Bloodworth




Institution: Vanderbilt University
Department:
Year: 2017
Keywords: type 2 immunity (Th2); gamma-delta 17 (17) cells; STAT6; Klebsiella pneumoniae; glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1); respiratory syncytial virus (RSV); phenome-wide association study (PheWAS); regulatory T cells (Tregs); prostacyclin (PGI2)
Posted: 02/01/2018
Record ID: 2155056
Full text PDF: http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-03242017-090325/;


Abstract

Allergic asthma is refractory to corticosteroid treatment in up to 10% of patients and often leads to hospital admissions caused by respiratory viral and/ or bacterial infections. In these studies, I found that: 1) STAT6 inhibited innate 17 cell immune responses. STAT6 suppression of 17 cell function may provide one explanation for why asthmatic patients have significantly greater risk for invasive bacterial disease, including pneumonia, than nonasthmatic subjects. 2) A GLP-1R agonist, an FDA-approved agent currently used for Type II Diabetes, attenuated the type 2 immune response to RSV and attenuates RSV illness. The current availability of GLP-1R agonists for human treatment highlights the clinical significance of these studies as this therapy could be immediately transferrable to RSV disease. 3) PGI2, an FDA-approved agent currently used for pulmonary hypertension, protected against autoimmunity; enhanced Treg stability and function; rendered T effector cells more susceptible to Treg- mediated suppression; and promoted iTreg differentiation. PGI2 may therefore represent a novel treatment strategy for diseases that result from Treg dysregulation.Advisors/Committee Members: David M. Aronoff, MD (chair), Ray Stokes Peebles Jr., MD (committee member), Wonder Drake, MD (committee member), Joshua P. Fessel, MD, PhD (committee member), Amy S. Major, PhD (committee member), John V. Williams (committee member).