Program Description
Scanning electron micrograph of a CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cell isolated from a mouse spleen. Cells such as these protect from autoimmune diseases, but they can also suppress virus-specific immunity and thereby lead to chronic infections. Credit: NIAID
Our research is aimed at understanding host responses to retroviral infections. We use mice infected with Friend murine leukemia virus as a model to study basic immunology. A special interest is in chronic infections, including how chronic infections are established and maintained and developing strategies to prevent and treat them. Using this model, we discovered that viruses can subvert the suppressive nature of regulatory T cells to evade immunological destruction by CD8+ T cells. We also use “humanized” mice, mice that contain human immune systems, as a model to study immune responses to HIV infection and to help us determine basic mechanisms of vaccine protection against acute and chronic retroviral infections. The goal of these studies is to develop new ideas for HIV vaccines and therapies.
Biography
Dr. Hasenkrug received his Ph.D. in cell biology from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1991 and conducted his postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Dr. Bruce Chesebro at the Rocky Mountain Laboratories. In 1998, he established an independent laboratory to study retroviral immunology and mechanisms of vaccine protection. A special focus of his work has been the study of establishment and maintenance of chronic infections and virus escape. Dr. Hasenkrug serves as an affiliated associate professor at Montana State University and the University of Montana and as a scientific advisor for the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative.
Editorial Boards
Research Group
From left to right: Dr. Amanda Duley, Dr. Lara Myers, Mr. Aaron Carmody, Dr. Kim Hasenkrug, Mr. Ronald Messer
back to top
Selected Publications
Barrett BS, Smith DS, Li SX, Guo K, Hasenkrug KJ, Santiago ML. A single nucleotide polymorphism in tetherin promotes retrovirus restriction in vivo. PLoS Pathog. 2012 Mar;8(3):e1002596.
Smith DS, Guo K, Barrett BS, Heilman KJ, Evans LH, Hasenkrug KJ, Greene WC, Santiago ML. Noninfectious retrovirus particles drive the APOBEC3/Rfv3 dependent neutralizing antibody response. PLoS Pathog. 2011 Oct;7(10):e1002284.
Nair S, Bayer W, Ploquin MJ, Kassiotis G, Hasenkrug KJ, Dittmer U. Distinct roles of CD4+ T cell subpopulations in retroviral immunity: lessons from the Friend virus mouse model. Retrovirology. 2011 Sep 26;8:76.
Zelinskyy G, Myers L, Dietze KK, Gibbert K, Roggendorf M, Liu J, Lu M, Kraft AR, Teichgräber V, Hasenkrug KJ, Dittmer U. Virus-specific CD8+ T cells upregulate programmed death-1 expression during acute friend retrovirus infection but are highly cytotoxic and control virus replication. J Immunol. 2011 Oct 1;187(7):3730-7.
Hasenkrug KJ, Myers LM. In vitro and in vivo analyses of regulatory T cell suppression of CD8+ T cells. Methods Mol Biol. 2011;707:45-54.
Dietze KK, Zelinskyy G, Gibbert K, Schimmer S, Francois S, Myers L, Sparwasser T, Hasenkrug KJ, Dittmer U. Transient depletion of regulatory T cells in transgenic mice reactivates virus-specific CD8+ T cells and reduces chronic retroviral set points. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Feb 8;108(6):2420-5.
Visit PubMed for a complete publication listing.
back to top