Our laboratory research focuses on the host-pathogen relationship between medically relevant fungi and the vertebrate immune systems. Invasive aspergillosis is the most common invasive mold infection worldwide and represents a major cause of infectious morbidity and mortality in patients that receive treatment for leukemia or that undergo bone marrow transplantation. Our goal is to develop a detailed mechanistic understanding of molecular and cellular host defenses against Aspergillus fumigatus, the most common etiologic agent of invasive aspergillosis to develop novel therapeutic strategies to augment or supplement current antifungal drugs. To this end, we use a murine model of infection and rely on a combination of cell biological, immunological, and imaging techniques to probe the host-pathogen interface.
Our clinical research focuses on the performance of surrogate antigen and nucleic acid-based diagnostic tests to identify invasive aspergillosis in hematopietic stem cell transplant recipients.
Cramer, R. A., Rivera, A., and T. M. Hohl.Immune responses against Aspergillus fumigatus: What have we learned? Curr. Opin. Infect. Dis. 24:315-22, 2011.
[
PubMed
Abstract ]
Grahl, N., Puttikamonkul, S., Macdonald, J. M., Gamcsik, M. P., Ngo, L. Y., Hohl, T. M., and R. A. Cramer. In vivo Hypoxia and an Alcohol Dehydrogenase Influence the Fungal Pathogenesis of Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis. PloS Pathogens 7:e1002145, 2011.
[
PubMed
Abstract ]
Rivera, A., Hohl, T. M., Collins, N., Leiner, I., Gallegos, A., Saijo, S., Coward, J. W., Iwakura, Y., and E. G. Pamer.Dectin-1 diversifies anti-fungal T cell responses by inhibiting T helper type 1 differentiation. J. Exp. Med. 208:369-381, 2011.
[
PubMed
Abstract ]
Hohl, T.M., Rivera, A., Lipuma, L., Gallegos, A., Shi, C., Mack, M. and E. G. Pamer. Inflammatory monocytes facilitate adaptive CD4 T cell responses during respiratory fungal infection. Cell Host Microbe. 6:470-481, 2009.
[
PubMed
Abstract ]
Mircescu, M., Lipuma, L., van Rooijen, N., Pamer, E. G., and T. M. Hohl. Essential role for neutrophils but not alveolar macrophages at early time points following Aspergillus fumigatus infection. J. Infect. Dis. 200:647-656, 2009.
[
PubMed
Abstract ]