Loren Denlinger
Credentials: MD, PhD
Position title: Associate Professor
Email: ldenling@wisc.edu
Phone: (608) 261-1552
Address:
K4/926 CSC
600 Highland Avenue
Madison, WI 53792
Focus Groups
Cancer Biology
Immunology/Immunopathology
Education
MD, PhD, Univeristy of Wisconsin
Research Summary
Host-pathogen interactions; the role of macrophages in immunity to intracellular pathogens; innate immune responses like cytokine production & microbial killing amplified by extracellular nucleotide receptor known as P2X7 (significant functional diversity for this receptor exists between cell types & human subjects); role of P2X7 as candidate gene modulating the human innate immune responses of macrophages & airway epithelial cells to Chlamydia pneumoniae, contribution of responses of asthma
Research Detail
The overarching hypothesis is that P2X7 function contributes to the balance of immune clearance vs. persistence of intracellular pathogens. Using a high-throughput screening assay in whole blood, we have identified two novel P2X7 alleles that alter the channel/pore activity of this receptor. The impact of these polymorphisms on expression patterns and signaling capacity of this receptor is being evaluated in recombinant expression systems. In collaboration with numerous investigators at the UW Asthma Center and the NIH Asthma Clinical Research Network, the influence of these alleles on P2X7 pharmacological responses are being studied in primary alveolar macrophages and respiratory epithelial cells. A rhinovirus infection of epithelial cell model is under development to study effects of P2X7 alleles on the immune responses of these cells.