David Artis, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Dept of Pathobiology

Microbiology, Virology and Parasitology Program

Address

School of Veterinary Medicine
314 Hill Pavilion
380 South University Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19104-4539

Office tel.: 215 898-7920
Lab tel.: 215 898-6268
Fax: 215 746-2295
E-mail: dartis@vet.upenn.edu

Link(s)

Department of Pathobiology
Immunology Graduate Group
Microbiology

University of Glasgow, UK: BSc (Hons).

University of Manchester, UK: Ph.D. (Immunology).

Research Interests

Regulation of immunity and inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract.

Search PubMed for articles

Description of Research

The goals of the lab are to gain a better understanding of the immuno-regulatory mechanisms that govern the initiation, regulation, and development of immune effector responses following infection with pathogens of the gastrointestinal tract. The gut is a unique immunologic niche, simultaneously maintaining tolerance to food antigens and billions of enteric bacterial symbionts, while retaining the ability to recognize and respond to potentially dangerous pathogens.

We are particularly interested in gut-dwelling helminth parasites. An estimated two billion people world-wide are infected with soil transmitted helminth parasites, with 300 million people suffering severe infections. In addition, this group of pathogens represents a significant economic burden to the livestock industry. Despite their ubiquitous distribution and evolutionary success, many of the pathogen factors that promote parasitism and the host factors that mediate resistance to these infections remain poorly defined.

Trichuris muris is one of the model systems we use to investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms that govern immunity and inflammation following infection. T. muris is a natural gastrointestinal parasite of mice and provides an immunologically well-defined model of human and veterinary infections. Previous studies have shown that CD4+ T helper type 1 (Th1) responses promote chronic infection, while CD4+ Th2 responses are required for host protective immunity. However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms that control how Trichuris is recognized by the innate immune system, how CD4+ T helper cell differentiation is regulated in the gut, and what the immune effector mechanisms are that mediate expulsion of these infections are unknown.

Recent Publications

Nair, MG, Guild, K and Artis, D (2006) Brief review: Novel effector molecules in type 2 inflammation – lessons drawn from helminth infection and allergy. Journal of Immunology 177:1393-1399.

Zaph, CJ, Rook, K, Mohrs, M, Scott, P, and Artis, D (2006) Persistence, function, and lineage-relationship of effector and central memory CD4+ T cells following infection with a gastrointestinal pathogen. Journal of Immunology 177:511-518.

Owyang, A, Zaph, CJ, Wilson, E, Guild, K, McClanachan, T, Miller, HRP, Cua, D, Goldschmidt, M, Hunter, C, Kastelein, R, and Artis, D (2006)IL-25 is a critical regulator of immunity and inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract. Journal of Experimental Medicine 203:843-849.

Perrigoue, JG, Li, J, Zaph, C, Goldschmidt, M, Scott, P, Pearce, EJ, Ghilardi, N, Artis, D (2007). IL-31-IL-31R interactions negatively regulate type 2 inflammation in the lung. Journal of Experimental Medicine 204:481-487.

Zaph, C, Troy, AE, Taylor, BC, Berman-Booty, LD, Guild, KJ, Du, Y, Yost, E, Gruber, A, May, MJ, Greten, F, Eckmann, L, Karin, K, and Artis, D. (2007). Epithelial cell-intrinsic IKKb expression regulates intestinal immune homeostasis. Nature 446:552-556.

Lab

Rotation Projects

1. Role of IL-25 in regulating immunity and inflammation in the gut
2. Intestinal epithelial cell-specific knockout mice – analysis of innate and adaptive responses to enteric pathogens
3. RELM proteins in mucosal immunity

Lab personnel:

Yurong Du, Research assistant
Katherine Guild, Research assistant
Tom Kirn, Clinical Pathology Fellow
Meera Nair, Post-doctoral Fellow
Jackie Perrigoue, IGG PhD student
Greg Rak, MVP rotation student
Steven Saenz, MVP PhD student
Betsy Taylor, IGG rotation student
Amy Troy, Post-doctoral Fellow
Colby Zaph, Irvington Institute Research Fellow