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Gerard Joseph Nau, M.D., Ph.D.
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Assistant Professor
E1256 BSTWR
200 Lothrop Street
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261
Phone: (412) 383-9986
Fax: (412) 624-1401
E-mail: gjnau@pitt.edu
Lab Phone: (412) 383-8084
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Biography
After receiving his Bachelors degree in Microbiology from the University of Notre Dame, Dr. Nau completed a combined MD, PhD in Immunology through the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of Chicago. Clinical training in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases was performed at Massachusetts General Hospital. Post-graduate research in molecular biology and host-pathogen interactions was done in Dr. Richard Young’s laboratory at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. Dr. Nau was an Instructor in Medicine and a Research Scientist at the Whitehead Institute before he joined the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics and the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases in 2003.
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Research
The Nau laboratory studies interactions between host cells and pathogenic bacteria to understand both normal host defenses and bacterial pathogenesis. Bacterial pathogens have evolved to exploit and undermine host defenses in their quest to survive. A better understanding of the molecular tools used and the defenses targeted by pathogens will enable us to develop novel therapies and improved vaccines.
One focus of the laboratory is the pathogenesis of Francisella tularensis. F. tularensis is a human pathogen and category A biodefense agent. The World Health Organization has estimated that 50 kg of tularemia released in the air over a city of 5 million people would result in 250,000 cases of illness and 19,000 deaths. The bacterium is capable of entering the body through multiple routes including breaks in skin, the gastrointestinal tract, and the lungs. It is an intracellular pathogen capable of propagating within host macrophages. We are using a wide variety of cutting-edge technologies, including genomics, proteomics, and molecular genetics, to identify virulence factors and how virulent strains alter host cell function. We are using this information to develop live attenuated vaccines against F. tularensis and are developing animal models to test vaccines and novel therapies.
Another focus in the laboratory is the pathogenesis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. M. tuberculosis accounts for approximately 2 million deaths per year worldwide. It is also an intracellular pathogen capable of surviving within humans for decades. The Nau laboratory uses immunological and biochemical approaches to study the molecular mechanism by which M. tuberculosis subverts normal macrophage cytokine production and the utility of cytokines as immunotherapeutics.
We are collaborating with the Department of Immunology and investigators at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Michigan to create mathematical models of pulmonary defenses to infectious agents. We also bring our expertise in gene expression analysis and microarrays to other collaborations within and beyond the University of Pittsburgh.
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Selected Publications
- Horzempa, H, Shanks RMQ, Brown MJ, Russo BC, O’Dee DM, Nau GJ. 2009. "Utilization of an unstable plasmid and the I-SceI endonuclease to generate routine markerless deletion mutants in Francisella tularensis." J Microbial Methods In press. | Abstract
- Robinson CM, O'Dee D, Hamilton T, Nau GJ. 2009. "Cytokines Involved in Interferon-{gamma} Production by Human Macrophages" J Innate Immun. In press.
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- Carlson PE Jr, Horzempa J, O'Dee DM, Neophytou P, Labrinidis A, Nau GJ. 2009. "Global transcriptional response to spermine, a component of the intra-macrophage environment, reveals regulation of Francisella gene expression through insertion sequence elements." J Bacteriol. 2009 Nov;191(22):6855-64. Epub 2009 Sep 11. | Abstract
- Horzempa J, Carlson PE Jr, O'Dee DM, Shanks RM, Nau GJ. 2008. "Global transcriptional response to mammalian temperature provides new insight into Francisella tularensis pathogenesis" BMC Microbiol. 8:172. | Abstract
- Robinson CM, Nau GJ. 2008. "Interleukin-12 and Interleukin-27 Regulate Macrophage Control of Mycobacterium tuberculosis" J Infect Dis. 198:359-66. | Abstract
- Lu Y, Rosenfeld R, Simon I, Nau GJ, Bar-Joseph Z. 2008. "A probabilistic generative model for GO enrichment analysis" Nucleic Acids Res. 36:e109. | Abstract
- Turnquist HR, Sumpter TL, Tsung A, Zahorchak AF, Nakao A, Nau GJ, Liew FY, Geller DA, Thomson AW. 2008. "IL-1{beta}-Driven ST2L Expression Promotes Maturation Resistance in Rapamycin-Conditioned Dendritic Cells" J Immunol. 181:62-72. | Abstract
- Horzempa J, Tarwacki DM, Carlson PE Jr, Robinson CM, Nau GJ. 2008. "Characterization and application of a glucose-repressible promoter in Francisella tularensis" Appl Environ Microbiol. 74:2161-70. | Abstract
- Shanks RM, Stella NA, Kalivoda EJ, Doe MR, O'Dee DM, Lathrop KL, Guo FL, Nau GJ. 2007. "A Serratia marcescens OxyR homolog mediates surface attachment and biofilm formation" J Bacteriol. 189:7262-72. | Abstract
- Carlson PE Jr, Carroll JA, O'Dee DM, Nau GJ. 2007. "Modulation of virulence factors in Francisella tularensis determines human macrophage responses" Microb Pathog. 42:204-14. | Abstract
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