Signaling via the IL-20 receptor inhibits cutaneous production of IL-1β and IL-17A to promote infection with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Myles IA, Fontecilla N , Valdez PA, Vithayathil P, Naik S, Belkaid Y, Ouyang W and Datta SK. Signaling via the IL-20 receptor inhibits cutaneous production of IL-1b and IL-17A to promote infection with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Nature Immunology. 14(8):804-11 June, 2013

Staphylococcus aureus causes most infections of human skin and soft tissue and is a major infectious cause of mortality. Host defense mechanisms against S. aureus are incompletely understood. Interleukin 19 (IL-19), IL-20 and IL-24 signal through type I and type II IL-20 receptors and are associated with inflammatory skin diseases such as psoriasis and atopic dermatitis.  Our findings identify an immunosuppressive role for IL-19, IL-20 and IL-24 during infection that could be therapeutically targeted to alter susceptibility to infection.

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Specific gut commensal flora locally alters T cell tuning to endogenous ligands.

Pascal C, Bouladoux N, Naik S and Schwartz R. Specific gut commensal flora locally alters T cell tuning to endogenous ligands. Immunity. 38(6):1198-210 June, 2013

These findings define a key role for the gut commensal flora in sustaining ongoing autoimmune responses through the local fine tuning of T-cell-receptor-proximal activation events in autoreactive T cells.

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Microbiota and T lymphocytes: the best enemies.

Bouladoux N, Hand TW*, Naik S*, Belkaid Y. Microbiota and T lymphocytes: the best enemies. Med Sci (Paris). 29(4):349-52Apr, 2013

(Article in French) The cells of our body coexist permanently with an extremely dense and varied microbial flora. This microbiota colonizes the surface of our skin and most of our mucous membranes, especially the intestinal mucosa.

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The transcriptional factors Thpok and LRF are redundantly necessary for helper T cell differentiation.

Carpenter A, Grainger JR, Xiong Y, Chu HH, Wang L, Naik S, Dos Santos L, Wei L, Jenkins MK, O’Shea J, Belkaid Y, Bosselut R. The transcriptional factors Thpok and LRF are redundantly necessary for helper T cell differentiation. Immunity. 37(4):622-33 Oct, 2012

T helper (Th) cells are critical for defenses against infection and recognize peptides bound to class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC II) molecules. Although transcription factorshave been identified that direct Th cells into specific effector fates, whether a “master” regulator controls the developmental program common to all Th cells remains unclear. Here, we showed that the two transcription factors Thpok and LRF share this function.

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Preserving immunogenicity of lethally irradiated viral and bacterial vaccine epitopes using a radioprotective Mn(2+)-peptide complex from Deinococcus.

Gaidamakova EK, Myles IA, McDaniel DP, Fowler CJ, Valdez PA, Naik S, Gayen M, Gupta P, Sharma A, Glass PJ, Maheshwari RK, Datta SK, Daly MJ. Preserving immunogenicity of lethally irradiated viral and bacterial vaccine epitopes using a radioprotective Mn(2+)-peptide complex from Deinococcus. Cell Host Microbe. 12(1):117-24 Jul, 2012

We demonstrate the use of a reconstituted manganous peptide complex from the radiation-resistant bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans to protect protein epitopes from radiation-induced damage and uncouple it from genome damage and organism killing.

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