Kate Lawlor
@katelawlorlab.bsky.social
Assoc/Prof Kate Lawlor’s lab at the Hudson Institute/Monash University, Melbourne. Studies all things cell death and inflammation related. #AnotherInnateKate #Apoptosis #Necroptosis #Inflammasomes #InnateImmunity
Reposted by Kate Lawlor
#EveryCellIsAnImmuneCell! Luchetti @rauchlab.bksy.social Dixit &co show @nature.com that enteropathogenic bacteria evolved a virulence factor that degrades non-canonical #inflammasome & targets ROCKs necessary for luminal extrusion of infected intestinal #epithelial cells, favoring bacterial growth!
Enteropathogenic bacteria evade ROCK-driven epithelial cell extrusion - Nature
The bacterial ubiquitin ligase NleL evades host defence mechanisms both by inhibiting pyroptosis and by preventing infected intestinal epithelial cells from being extruded into the lumen and expelled ...
doi.org
October 22, 2025 at 9:40 PM
#EveryCellIsAnImmuneCell! Luchetti @rauchlab.bksy.social Dixit &co show @nature.com that enteropathogenic bacteria evolved a virulence factor that degrades non-canonical #inflammasome & targets ROCKs necessary for luminal extrusion of infected intestinal #epithelial cells, favoring bacterial growth!
Reposted by Kate Lawlor
Open Group Leader Positions at the IMB, UQ. Interested in joining us in sunny Queensland?
Group Leader - Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB)
Institute for Molecular Bioscience Join a university ranked in the world’s top 50 Australia’s #1 research institute Based at St Lucia Campus About UQ What started as Queensland's first university in 1...
uq.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com
October 12, 2025 at 4:17 AM
Open Group Leader Positions at the IMB, UQ. Interested in joining us in sunny Queensland?
Reposted by Kate Lawlor
Congrats to @malvinapiz.bsky.social and @inflammasomelab.bsky.social on their new paper on the role of cardiolipin in non canonical inflammasome activation. We’re happy to have contributed to the story 🎉🦠!!
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
Cardiolipin inhibits the non-canonical inflammasome by preventing LPS binding to caspase-4/11 | The EMBO Journal
imageimageAvailable caspase-4/11 (CASP4/11) inhibitors also block the activity of caspase-1
(CASP1), which complicates interpretation of results in functional studies and limits
their clinical potenti...
www.embopress.org
July 19, 2025 at 11:18 AM
Congrats to @malvinapiz.bsky.social and @inflammasomelab.bsky.social on their new paper on the role of cardiolipin in non canonical inflammasome activation. We’re happy to have contributed to the story 🎉🦠!!
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Kate Lawlor
A small-molecule STING agonist is conjugated to a nanobody that binds to serum albumins to increase tumor accumulation and augment antitumor immunity
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Potentiating cancer immunotherapies with modular albumin-hitchhiking nanobody–STING agonist conjugates - Nature Biomedical Engineering
A modular anti-albumin nanobody conjugated to a STING agonist enhances antitumour immunity by improving pharmacokinetics, tumour accumulation and immune responses, inhibiting murine tumour growth and ...
www.nature.com
June 12, 2025 at 3:35 AM
A small-molecule STING agonist is conjugated to a nanobody that binds to serum albumins to increase tumor accumulation and augment antitumor immunity
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Kate Lawlor
No budget increase for the Australian Research Council 😡
March 25, 2025 at 8:50 AM
No budget increase for the Australian Research Council 😡
Reposted by Kate Lawlor
I’m happy to share that my first first-author publication is now out! 🎉
I am excited to share that Michelle's (Hui Wen) PhD work on microbial subversion of innate immune and cell death pathways is now online! Congrats @michelleyeaphw.bsky.social and all co-authors! 🥳
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
A bacterial network of T3SS effectors counteracts host pro-inflammatory responses and cell death to promote infection | The EMBO Journal
imageimageHost cells activate cell death pathways in response to bacterial manipulation of innate
immune signalling, but the molecular mechanisms underlying this interplay are not
fully understood. Th...
www.embopress.org
March 24, 2025 at 12:59 PM
I’m happy to share that my first first-author publication is now out! 🎉
Reposted by Kate Lawlor
#WeekendRead! #InflammasomePower! @rauchlab.bsky.social &co show @jem.org that small intestinal tufts cells activate the NLRC4 inflammasome leading to PGD2-dependent IL-22 production by ILC3, protecting against Salmonella!
rupress.org/jem/article/...
rupress.org/jem/article/...
Enteric tuft cell inflammasome activation drives NKp46+ILC3 IL22 via PGD2 and inhibits Salmonella
PGD2 released after NAIP-NLRC4 inflammasome activation in tuft cells signals onto ILC3s and mediates host defense mechanisms against Salmonella Typhimurium
rupress.org
March 16, 2025 at 2:57 PM
#WeekendRead! #InflammasomePower! @rauchlab.bsky.social &co show @jem.org that small intestinal tufts cells activate the NLRC4 inflammasome leading to PGD2-dependent IL-22 production by ILC3, protecting against Salmonella!
rupress.org/jem/article/...
rupress.org/jem/article/...
Reposted by Kate Lawlor
Sharing my labs first pre-print ! We discovered a remarkable innate checkpoint in macrophages ! Congrats to tall the authors @umassmedicine.bsky.social @umasschan.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
MARCO is an IFN-restricted immunometabolic decoy LPS receptor
Intracellular sensing of lipopolysaccharide is an essential component of pathogen detection that governs the innate immune response. However, how this process is controlled to maintain homeostasis and...
www.biorxiv.org
March 17, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Sharing my labs first pre-print ! We discovered a remarkable innate checkpoint in macrophages ! Congrats to tall the authors @umassmedicine.bsky.social @umasschan.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Kate Lawlor
This is amazing!!!
Wow!
surprising new cell-intrinsic innate immune function in 𝘕𝘈𝘛𝘜𝘙𝘌
PROTEOSOMES generate antimicrobial peptides that kill bacteria as a first line of defense
bacterial infection alters proteasome function to boost this protective activity
are proteosomes a novel target for antimicrobial therapy?
surprising new cell-intrinsic innate immune function in 𝘕𝘈𝘛𝘜𝘙𝘌
PROTEOSOMES generate antimicrobial peptides that kill bacteria as a first line of defense
bacterial infection alters proteasome function to boost this protective activity
are proteosomes a novel target for antimicrobial therapy?
Cell-autonomous innate immunity by proteasome-derived defence peptides - Nature
Proteasomal degradation of cellular proteins generate defence peptides constitutively and in response to bacterial infection. Such peptides might provide a source of natural antibiotics that...
www.nature.com
March 7, 2025 at 8:14 PM
This is amazing!!!
Reposted by Kate Lawlor
We are recruiting a group leader in laboratory research at Peter Mac Cancer Centre in
Melbourne, Australia 🔬🦘💥
Work in a cutting edge research environment in a vibrant world city!
We value research excellence, creativity and diversity.
Join us!
careers.petermac.org/job/MELBOURN...
Melbourne, Australia 🔬🦘💥
Work in a cutting edge research environment in a vibrant world city!
We value research excellence, creativity and diversity.
Join us!
careers.petermac.org/job/MELBOURN...
Group Leader
Group Leader
careers.petermac.org
March 5, 2025 at 8:04 AM
We are recruiting a group leader in laboratory research at Peter Mac Cancer Centre in
Melbourne, Australia 🔬🦘💥
Work in a cutting edge research environment in a vibrant world city!
We value research excellence, creativity and diversity.
Join us!
careers.petermac.org/job/MELBOURN...
Melbourne, Australia 🔬🦘💥
Work in a cutting edge research environment in a vibrant world city!
We value research excellence, creativity and diversity.
Join us!
careers.petermac.org/job/MELBOURN...
Reposted by Kate Lawlor
I am incredibly fortunate and delighted to have been awarded a NHMRC Emerging Leadership Level 1 Investigator Grant this year! 🥳 This funding will provide crucial support for my research on interferon epsilon in cancer over the next 5 years. @hudsonresearch.bsky.social #nhmrc #investigatorgrant
NHMRC Investigator grant success 2025
Research into autoinflammatory diseases, hypertension, cancer and perinatal brain injury has been funded by NHMRC Investigator grants.
www.hudson.org.au
February 26, 2025 at 3:22 AM
I am incredibly fortunate and delighted to have been awarded a NHMRC Emerging Leadership Level 1 Investigator Grant this year! 🥳 This funding will provide crucial support for my research on interferon epsilon in cancer over the next 5 years. @hudsonresearch.bsky.social #nhmrc #investigatorgrant
Reposted by Kate Lawlor
The ARC Board has proposed a major shake-up of the National Competitive Grants Program ▶️ www.arc.gov.au/engage-us/co...
I've only skimmed so far, but they propose reducing 13 grant schemes to 6, with intent & scope in the table👇
Submissions are being accepted in response until 13 April. Get to it!
I've only skimmed so far, but they propose reducing 13 grant schemes to 6, with intent & scope in the table👇
Submissions are being accepted in response until 13 April. Get to it!
February 25, 2025 at 3:46 AM
The ARC Board has proposed a major shake-up of the National Competitive Grants Program ▶️ www.arc.gov.au/engage-us/co...
I've only skimmed so far, but they propose reducing 13 grant schemes to 6, with intent & scope in the table👇
Submissions are being accepted in response until 13 April. Get to it!
I've only skimmed so far, but they propose reducing 13 grant schemes to 6, with intent & scope in the table👇
Submissions are being accepted in response until 13 April. Get to it!
Reposted by Kate Lawlor
Excited to share our latest preprint! We find that DCs undergo heterogeneous cell death- either pyroptosis or apoptosis upon bacterial blockade of host translation- to restrict Legionella infection. Congrats to my PhD student @vvazquez.bsky.social & co-authors! Check out his bluetorial 🧵 below! 👇
Bluesky post
I’m very excited to share a preprint of the bulk of my thesis work in @sunnyshinlab.bsky.social where we investigate how dendritic cells respond to Legionella pneumophila
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
I’m very excited to share a preprint of the bulk of my thesis work in @sunnyshinlab.bsky.social where we investigate how dendritic cells respond to Legionella pneumophila
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Dendritic cells activate pyroptosis and effector-triggered apoptosis to restrict Legionella infection
The innate immune system relies on pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) to detect pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and guard proteins to monitor pathogen disruption of host cell processe...
www.biorxiv.org
February 21, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Excited to share our latest preprint! We find that DCs undergo heterogeneous cell death- either pyroptosis or apoptosis upon bacterial blockade of host translation- to restrict Legionella infection. Congrats to my PhD student @vvazquez.bsky.social & co-authors! Check out his bluetorial 🧵 below! 👇
Reposted by Kate Lawlor
Would love to talk to ECRs who might be interested in applying for a post-doctoral fellowship to study human inflammasomes! The Royal Society Newton International Fellowships are open to anyone outside the UK. More details in the post below
The Royal Society's Newton International Fellowships are now open for applications. These fellowships are for non-UK early career scientists who wish to conduct research in the UK. Find out more, including how to apply: #RSGrants royalsociety.org/grants/newto...
January 30, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Would love to talk to ECRs who might be interested in applying for a post-doctoral fellowship to study human inflammasomes! The Royal Society Newton International Fellowships are open to anyone outside the UK. More details in the post below
Reposted by Kate Lawlor
Confirmed speakers:
A. Ablasser
L. Andreeva
@audeber.bsky.social
@jelenalab.bsky.social
V. Dixit
@v-hornung.bsky.social
B. Lemaitre
O. Majer
@manellab.bsky.social
E. Miao
@oliveiramann.bsky.social
M. Pasparakis
@inflammasomelab.bsky.social
@sparrerlab.bsky.social
R. Vance
@lozanzi.bsky.social
A. Ablasser
L. Andreeva
@audeber.bsky.social
@jelenalab.bsky.social
V. Dixit
@v-hornung.bsky.social
B. Lemaitre
O. Majer
@manellab.bsky.social
E. Miao
@oliveiramann.bsky.social
M. Pasparakis
@inflammasomelab.bsky.social
@sparrerlab.bsky.social
R. Vance
@lozanzi.bsky.social
January 28, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Confirmed speakers:
A. Ablasser
L. Andreeva
@audeber.bsky.social
@jelenalab.bsky.social
V. Dixit
@v-hornung.bsky.social
B. Lemaitre
O. Majer
@manellab.bsky.social
E. Miao
@oliveiramann.bsky.social
M. Pasparakis
@inflammasomelab.bsky.social
@sparrerlab.bsky.social
R. Vance
@lozanzi.bsky.social
A. Ablasser
L. Andreeva
@audeber.bsky.social
@jelenalab.bsky.social
V. Dixit
@v-hornung.bsky.social
B. Lemaitre
O. Majer
@manellab.bsky.social
E. Miao
@oliveiramann.bsky.social
M. Pasparakis
@inflammasomelab.bsky.social
@sparrerlab.bsky.social
R. Vance
@lozanzi.bsky.social
Reposted by Kate Lawlor
Check out our latest pre print! Alexandra and colleagues show that the enigmatic inflammasome receptor, NLRP6 is activated by sterile and pathogen induced endolysosomal damage. Hot off the press!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Sterile- or pathogen-induced endolysosomal damage activate the NLRP6 inflammasome in human intestinal epithelial cells
NLRP6 controls host defense against bacteria and viruses in the gastrointestinal tract by a poorly understood mechanism. Here, we report that NLRP6 forms an inflammasome upon endolysosomal damage caus...
www.biorxiv.org
January 28, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Check out our latest pre print! Alexandra and colleagues show that the enigmatic inflammasome receptor, NLRP6 is activated by sterile and pathogen induced endolysosomal damage. Hot off the press!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Kate Lawlor
Excited to share our latest paper out today in @naturecomms.bsky.social !
Great work led by postdoc Ales Drobek showing for the first time the critical role in vivo of the SLC15A4/TASL/IRF5 pathway that we discovered few years ago.
#ImmunoSky #InterferoSky
Great work led by postdoc Ales Drobek showing for the first time the critical role in vivo of the SLC15A4/TASL/IRF5 pathway that we discovered few years ago.
#ImmunoSky #InterferoSky
The TLR7/9 adaptors TASL and TASL2 mediate IRF5-dependent antiviral responses and autoimmunity in mouse - Nature Communications
TASL is an adaptor molecule bridging Toll-like receptor signalling and transcription activation by IRF5. Here the authors show that TASL deficiency impacts TLR7/9 responses, and that a TASL paralogue,...
www.nature.com
January 24, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Excited to share our latest paper out today in @naturecomms.bsky.social !
Great work led by postdoc Ales Drobek showing for the first time the critical role in vivo of the SLC15A4/TASL/IRF5 pathway that we discovered few years ago.
#ImmunoSky #InterferoSky
Great work led by postdoc Ales Drobek showing for the first time the critical role in vivo of the SLC15A4/TASL/IRF5 pathway that we discovered few years ago.
#ImmunoSky #InterferoSky
Reposted by Kate Lawlor
#WeekendRead! #EveryCellisAnImmuneCell! Park, Ahn & Barber show @sciimmunology.bsky.social that DNA-damaged cells activate cGAS-STING secreting factors & induce endosomal vesicles that activate in antigen-presenting cells cGAS-STING inducing immune activation! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Antigen-presenting cell activation requires intrinsic and extrinsic STING signaling after the phagocytosis of DNA-damaged cells
Both cytosolic DNA species and innate immune STING signaling are required for stressed cells to activate phagocytes.
www.science.org
December 22, 2024 at 4:27 PM
#WeekendRead! #EveryCellisAnImmuneCell! Park, Ahn & Barber show @sciimmunology.bsky.social that DNA-damaged cells activate cGAS-STING secreting factors & induce endosomal vesicles that activate in antigen-presenting cells cGAS-STING inducing immune activation! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Kate Lawlor
#InterferonPower! Fantastic @science.org by @nandangokhale.bsky.social @ramlabuw.bsky.social &co! MAVS is intrinsically capable to sense via an unstructured region the 3’ UTRs of self mRNA (ISGs too!) to potentiate the response to viral RNA via phosphorylation of IRF3 & NFkB!
Cellular RNA interacts with MAVS to promote antiviral signaling
Antiviral signaling downstream of RIG-I–like receptors (RLRs) proceeds through a multi-protein complex organized around the adaptor protein mitochondrial antiviral signaling protein (MAVS). Protein co...
www.science.org
December 19, 2024 at 9:39 PM
#InterferonPower! Fantastic @science.org by @nandangokhale.bsky.social @ramlabuw.bsky.social &co! MAVS is intrinsically capable to sense via an unstructured region the 3’ UTRs of self mRNA (ISGs too!) to potentiate the response to viral RNA via phosphorylation of IRF3 & NFkB!
Reposted by Kate Lawlor
Ever wondered how gut microbes control immune responses at extra-intestinal locations?
Here #theonlylabever reports how a gut protozoan commensal shapes pulmonary immunity to exacerbate asthma and limit the dissemination of mycobacteria.
@cellpress.bsky.social ⬇️(1/x)
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Here #theonlylabever reports how a gut protozoan commensal shapes pulmonary immunity to exacerbate asthma and limit the dissemination of mycobacteria.
@cellpress.bsky.social ⬇️(1/x)
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
December 19, 2024 at 9:30 PM
Ever wondered how gut microbes control immune responses at extra-intestinal locations?
Here #theonlylabever reports how a gut protozoan commensal shapes pulmonary immunity to exacerbate asthma and limit the dissemination of mycobacteria.
@cellpress.bsky.social ⬇️(1/x)
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Here #theonlylabever reports how a gut protozoan commensal shapes pulmonary immunity to exacerbate asthma and limit the dissemination of mycobacteria.
@cellpress.bsky.social ⬇️(1/x)
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Reposted by Kate Lawlor
Are you a strong leader who wants to make a difference in cancer research? Become part of a dynamic, forward-thinking leadership team @onjcri.org.au and contribute to groundbreaking work that improves the lives of cancer patients. www.onjcri.org.au/join-our-tea...
Chief Scientific Research Officer – Olivia Newton John Cancer Research Institute
www.onjcri.org.au
December 12, 2024 at 11:47 PM
Are you a strong leader who wants to make a difference in cancer research? Become part of a dynamic, forward-thinking leadership team @onjcri.org.au and contribute to groundbreaking work that improves the lives of cancer patients. www.onjcri.org.au/join-our-tea...
Reposted by Kate Lawlor
#InterferonPower! #NotAllIFNsAreEqual! Casanova, Zhang, Al Qureshah &co show @jexpmed.bsky.social that a common (in China) autosomal dominant IFNAR1 variant impairs -not abolishes- IFN-alpha & -omega (not -beta!) responses making patients susceptible to some -not all- viruses doi.org/10.1084/jem....
A common form of dominant human IFNAR1 deficiency impairs IFN-α and -ω but not IFN-β-dependent immunity | Journal of Experimental Medicine | Rockefeller University Press
This study identifies 11 IFNAR1 alleles impairing IFN-α/ω responses but sparing IFN-β, including an allele common in Southern China (P335del). Heterozygous
doi.org
December 16, 2024 at 8:58 PM
#InterferonPower! #NotAllIFNsAreEqual! Casanova, Zhang, Al Qureshah &co show @jexpmed.bsky.social that a common (in China) autosomal dominant IFNAR1 variant impairs -not abolishes- IFN-alpha & -omega (not -beta!) responses making patients susceptible to some -not all- viruses doi.org/10.1084/jem....
Reposted by Kate Lawlor
@onjcri.org.au is seeking a visionary Chief Scientific Research Officer (CSRO) to lead cutting-edge cancer research. If you have the qualifications and passion to make a real impact, don’t miss this chance! Submit your EOI here: www.onjcri.org.au/recruitment/...
#CancerResearch #Anticancer
#CancerResearch #Anticancer
Chief Scientific Research Officer – Olivia Newton John Cancer Research Institute
www.onjcri.org.au
December 10, 2024 at 11:04 PM
@onjcri.org.au is seeking a visionary Chief Scientific Research Officer (CSRO) to lead cutting-edge cancer research. If you have the qualifications and passion to make a real impact, don’t miss this chance! Submit your EOI here: www.onjcri.org.au/recruitment/...
#CancerResearch #Anticancer
#CancerResearch #Anticancer
Reposted by Kate Lawlor
Happy to share our latest preprint from 1st author & PhD student @vvazquez.bsky.social examining how GM-CSF potentiates cytokine responses in human monocytes during bacterial infection! Congrats to Victor, his undergrad mentees Allyson Lu & Madison Dresler, & postdoc @mikelhaggadone.bsky.social! 🧪
My first first-author pre-print from my PhD is live! What pathways control GM-CSF-mediated antibacterial responses in human monocytes? Read more to find out! Special thanks to my mentees for their contributions and my PI @sunnyshinlab.bsky.social for her endless support 🥳
GM-CSF engages multiple signaling pathways to enhance pro-inflammatory cytokine responses in human monocytes during Legionella infection https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.12.05.627084v1
December 11, 2024 at 2:05 AM
Happy to share our latest preprint from 1st author & PhD student @vvazquez.bsky.social examining how GM-CSF potentiates cytokine responses in human monocytes during bacterial infection! Congrats to Victor, his undergrad mentees Allyson Lu & Madison Dresler, & postdoc @mikelhaggadone.bsky.social! 🧪
Reposted by Kate Lawlor
Excited to share this paper from my post-doc at @niaidnews.bsky.social out now in Science Immunology! We show that recent or ongoing 🫁 infections or other pulmonary environmental exposures at the time of infection with SARSCoV2 can vastly influence early replication of the virus in mice.
The inflammatory microenvironment of the lung at the time of infection governs innate control of SARS-CoV-2 replication
Recent or ongoing respiratory inflammation in the lung regulates antiviral immune responses to SARS-CoV-2.
www.science.org
December 7, 2024 at 11:47 PM
Excited to share this paper from my post-doc at @niaidnews.bsky.social out now in Science Immunology! We show that recent or ongoing 🫁 infections or other pulmonary environmental exposures at the time of infection with SARSCoV2 can vastly influence early replication of the virus in mice.