The lung faces a monumental challenge; each day we inhale about 11,000 liters of air in order to maintain life. This inhaled gas is laden with infectious bacteria, viruses, as well as allergens, environmental pollutants, and irritants. In spite of this overwhelming burden, most of us don't get lung disease and our lungs almost always effectively carry out gas exchange.

Our lab studies the functions at the cellular and molecular levels of pulmonary epithelial and immune cells that contribute to the ability of the lung to carry out functions that are important for normal breathing and for preventing infection and inflammation. The lung produces a unique substance, known as surfactant, which protects the lung by regulating immune cell function and by reducing the tendency of the lung to collapse. Two of the surfactant proteins, surfactant proteins A and D (SP-A and SP-D) are homologous to serum proteins and are involved in non-antibody mediated host defense against infection. This finding has generated a new area of research on the immunomodulatory functions of surfactant proteins. Our laboratory is currently investigating the surfactant mediated regulation of innate immune cells, such as macrophages and neutrophils, adaptive immune cells, such as dendritic cells and T-lymphocytes, as well as cells involved in pulmonary diseases such as asthma, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and lung transplant rejection. These studies employ an array of techniques including immunological, cell biological, molecular biology, physiology, and microscopy.

E-mail
j.wright@cellbio.duke.edu

368B Nanaline Duke Bldg.
Box 3709
Duke University Medical Center
Durham, NC 27710

Telephone
919-684-8040
Fax
919-684-8106

SCCOR test

Selected Publications
Ledford, J., H. Goto, E. N. Potts, S. Degan, H.W. Chu, D.R. Voelker, M.E. Sunday, G. J. Cianciolo, W.M. Foster, M. Kraft, J. R. Wright. SP-A preserves airway homeostasis during mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in mice. J. of Immunology, 182:7818-7812, 2009.

Geunes-Boyer, S., Oliver, T.N., Heitman, J., Perfect, J.R. Wright, Surfactant protein D increases phagocytosis of hypocapsular Cryptococcus neoformans by murine macrophages and enhances fungal survival. Infection & Immunity, 77: 2783-97, 2009.

Williams, K.L., Lord, C.A., Savitsky, D., Sitcheran, R., Zhengmao Ye, Z., Calame, K., Wright, J.R. and Jenny P.-Y. Ting, J.P-Y., Blimp-1/PRDM1 mediates transcriptional suppression of the NLR gene, NLRP12/Monarch-1, J. Immunol. 182:2948-2958, 2009.

Lo, B., S. Hansen, K. Evans, J.K. Heath, J.R. Wright. Alveolar epithelial type II cells induce T cell tolerance to specific antigen. J. Immunol. 180, 881-888, 2008.

Williams, K.L. , J.D. Lich, J.A. Duncan, W. Reed, P. Rallabhandi, C. Moore, S. Kurtz, V.M. Coffield, M.A. Accavitti-Loper, L. Su, , S.N. Vogel, M. Braunstein and J.P.-Y. Ting. The CATERPILLER protein monarch-1 is an antagonist of toll-like receptor-, tumor necrosis factor alpha-, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis-induced pro-inflammatory signals. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 2005 280(48): 39914-24.

Wright, JR. Immunoregulatory Functions of Surfactant Proteins. Nature Reviews Immunology: 2005; 5:58-68. -PDF-

Current Projects
Yoshi Aono, M.D., Ph.D. (Research Associate): Role of surfactant in non-infectious lung inflammation.

Bethany Brown (Graduate Student): Role of caveolin caveolin mediated signaling in asthma.

Kathy Evans (Research Analyst): Cell specific responses of immune cells to SP-A and SP-D.

Charles Giamberardino (Research technician): Regulation of airway reactivity by surfactant

Scarlett Guenes-Boyer (Graduate Student): Interactions of surfactant with Cryptococcus neoformans.

Stephanie Holmer (Graduate Student): Mechanism of dissemination of C. neoformans from lungs to the brain.

Julie Ledford, Ph.D. (Postdoc): Role of surfactant in Mycoplasma pneumonia induced exacerbations of asthma.

Sam Mukherjee (Postdoc): Regulation of lung T-cell function by surfactant.

Hiroya Nambu (Undergraduate): Regulation of TLR signaling.

Amy Pastva, Ph.D. (Assistant Professor): Surfactant and allergenic lung disease.

Joseph Thomas (Research Technician II): Regulation of TLR signaling by NLRP

David Zaas M.D. (Assistant Professor): Mechanisms of virulence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and caveolin mediated signaling.