Paul Baker
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pauljbaker.bsky.social
Paul Baker
@pauljbaker.bsky.social
480 followers 310 following 7 posts
Cells go in, western blots come out. Autoinflammatory diseases, Innate immunology, Molecular biology, Cytokines
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pauljbaker.bsky.social
Shouya’s amazing efforts have provided functional validation of many reported variants of (previously) unknown significance in the #NLRP3 #inflammasome, not only uncovering interesting aspects of NLRP3 biology, but also hopefully leading to improved diagnosis and treatment of patients with CAPS!
February 11, 2025 at 7:11 PM
pauljbaker.bsky.social
Thanks Matt! Our semi-regular debriefs all along the way were invaluable!
December 8, 2024 at 1:00 AM
pauljbaker.bsky.social
Thanks Natalia!
December 7, 2024 at 11:49 PM
pauljbaker.bsky.social
Thanks to all of our amazing coauthors including @kerryhilligan.bsky.social, @danbarberphd.bsky.social for spending many, many hours tolerating me in the BSL3 lab, helping with experiments and data analysis, and providing valuable advice and moral support!
December 7, 2024 at 11:47 PM
pauljbaker.bsky.social
More details in this 🧵 from my powerhouse PI @mayerbarber.bsky.social whose foresight and guidance got us to this fantastic manuscript!
mayerbarber.bsky.social Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD @mayerbarber.bsky.social · Dec 6
Best #Nikolaus 🎅! Our paper on how the 🫁 microenvironment can shape #innate immunity against #viruses is out @sciimmunology.bsky.social This was a herculean effort brilliantly led by @pauljbaker.bsky.social who singlehandedly established the model in the lab during the pandemic. 🧪 #Immunosky 1/9
Graphical summary of our paper. In mice, prior lower airway exposure to diverse inflammatory stimuli, including chronic bacterial infections such as M. tuberculosis, acute bacterial infections such as pulmonary S. aureus, viral infections such as Influenza A, type-II allergic responses such as the OVA-Alum model, activation of pulmonary TLR9 by CpG or pulmonary TLR1/2 by Pam3CSK4 leads to reduced viral burden upon subsequent infection with SARS-CoV-2 (SCV2). (2) This SCV2 restriction occurs prior to induction of SCV2-specific adaptive immune responses and is mediated through innate immune responses, including the induction of IFN-I, TNFα and IL-1 and sustained changes to the TRM (Tissue resident macrophage) cellular compartment and the pulmonary epithelium. (3) Innate cytokine and TLR signaling to both recruited immune cells and the pulmonary epithelium creates a microenvironment in the lung that limits early replication of SCV2. IFN-I signaling to pulmonary ECs (epithelial cells) increases expression of interferon-stimulated genes, that likely cell-intrinsically limit viral replication. TNF- or IL-1 suppress SCV2 independently of IFN-I signaling. TNF acts exclusively through radio-resistant cell types such as the lung epithelium, whereas IL-1 affords control both direct and indirectly, through either stromal and hematopoietic cell types, to restrict overall early SCV2 burden.
December 7, 2024 at 11:47 PM