Katharina (Katha) Lahl
Positions
Associate Professor
Cumming School of Medicine, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases
Full Member
The Calvin, Phoebe and Joan Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases, Immunology Research Group
Contact information
Web presence
Phone number
Office: 403.220.8834
Lab: 403.220.8438
Location
Office: HRIC 4AA10
Lab: HRIC 4B36 via HRIC 4A34
Background
Educational Background
PhD Natural Sciences, Technische Universitat Munich, 2009
Diploma in Biology Technische Universitat Munich, 2005
Biography
During my PhD work at the Technical University of Munich, I generated a transgenic mouse line that allows for the depletion of regulatory T cells. I could show that Tregs are critical to maintain systemic immunity in neonatal mice. During my postdoc I investigated intestinal dendritic cell subsets in mouse and man and contributed to studies interrogating the role of plasmacytoid DCs in the immune induction towards Rotavirus. In my independent laboratories in Sweden and Denmark, we continued to study barrier surface immunity towards viruses using Rotavirus and Respiratory Syncytial virus models. We defined DC subset specific requirements for migration and maturation, and found divergent functions for the subsets in response to viral triggers. We also studied the transcriptional regulation of dendritic cell subsets to better understand the drivers of their dichotomy in function.
The core interest of my lab lies in the recognition of viruses by the mucosal immune system. We focus on dendritic cells subset biology and function with an emphasis on IgA induction at the mucosal surface. My background in tolerance induction and mucosal immunology has given me a holistic view of the cellular players within the delicate ecosystem that maintains immune homeostasis. We hypothesize that early-life viral infections impact on the healthy establishment of barrier and systemic immunity and use enteric/respiratory infection and immunopathology models to interrogate the cellular basis of neonatal immune imprinting and its consequences for barrier health.
Research
Areas of Research
Participation in university strategic initiatives
Projects
Swedish Research Council - Project Grant – 2023-2026
Danish Medical Research Council - Project Grant – 2022-2024
The Swedish Cancer Society - Project Grant – 2022-2024
Swedish Research Council - Virus Call – 2021-2023
Publications
- A self-sustaining layer of early-life-origin B cells drives steady-state IgA responses in the adult gut. Vergani S, Muleta KG, Da Silva C, Doyle A, Kristiansen TA, Sodini S, Krausse N, Montano G, Kotarsky K, Nakawesi J, Åkerstrand H, Vanhee S, Gupta SL, Bryder D, Agace WW, Lahl K, Yuan J. Immunity. 1829-1842.e6. (2022)
- Type I interferons promote germinal centers through B cell intrinsic signaling and dendritic cell dependent Th1 and Tfh cell lineages. Dahlgren MW, Plumb AW, Niss K, Lahl K, Brunak S, Johansson-Lindbom B. Front Immunol. 932388. (2022)
- Rotavirus-induced expansion of antigen-specific CD8 T cells does not require signaling via TLR3, MyD88 or the Type I interferon receptor. Muleta KG, Ulmert I, Hamza KH, van Dijl S, Nakawesi J, Lahl K. Front Immunol. 814491. (2022)
- ADP-ribosylating adjuvant reveals plasticity in cDC1 cells that drive mucosal Th17 cell development and protection against influenza virus infection. Arabpour M, Lebrero-Fernandez C, Schön K, Strömberg A, Börjesson V, Lahl K, Ballegeer M, Saelens X, Angeletti D, Agace W, Lycke N. Mucosal Immunol. 745-761. (2022)
- Minor alterations in the intestinal microbiota composition upon Rotavirus infection do not affect susceptibility to DSS colitis. Hamza KH, Dunér E, Ulmert I, Arias A, Sorobetea D, Lahl K. Sci Rep. 13485. (2021)
- Rotavirus infection causes mesenteric lymph node hypertrophy independently of type I interferon or TNF-α in mice. Nakawesi J, Konjit GM, Dasoveanu DC, Johansson-Lindbom B, Lahl K. Eur J Immunol. 1143-1152. (2021)
- αvβ8 integrin-expression by BATF3-dependent dendritic cells facilitates early IgA responses to Rotavirus. Nakawesi J, This S, Hütter J, Boucard-Jourdin M, Barateau V, Muleta KG, Gooday LJ, Thomsen KF, López AG, Ulmert I, Poncet D, Malissen B, Greenberg H, Thaunat O, Defrance T, Paidassi H, Lahl K. Mucosal Immunol. 53-67. (2021)
- Mononuclear phagocyte regulation by the transcription factor Blimp-1 in health and disease. Ulmert I, Henriques-Oliveira L, Pereira CF, Lahl K. Immunology. 303-313. (2020)
- Divergent T follicular helper cell requirement for IgA and IgE production to peanut during allergic sensitization. Zhang B, Liu E, Gertie JA, Joseph J, Xu L, Pinker EY, Waizman DA, Catanzaro J, Hamza KH, Lahl K, Gowthaman U, Eisenbarth SC. Sci Immunol. (2020)
- Migration of murine intestinal dendritic cell subsets upon intrinsic and extrinsic TLR3 stimulation. Garcias López A, Bekiaris V, Müller Luda K, Hütter J, Ulmert I, Getachew Muleta K, Nakawesi J, Kotarsky K, Malissen B, O'Keeffe M, Holzmann B, Winston Agace W, Lahl K. Eur J Immunol. 1525-1536. (2020)
- Comparative transcriptional and functional profiling defines conserved programs of intestinal DC differentiation in humans and mice. Watchmaker PB, Lahl K, Lee M, Baumjohann D, Morton J, Kim SJ, Zeng R, Dent A, Ansel KM, Diamond B, Hadeiba H, Butcher EC. Nat Immunol. 98-108. (2014)
- Plasmacytoid dendritic cells promote rotavirus-induced human and murine B cell responses. Deal EM, Lahl K, Narváez CF, Butcher EC, Greenberg HB. J Clin Invest. 2464-2474. (2013)
- Selective depletion of Foxp3+ regulatory T cells induces a scurfy-like disease. Lahl K, Loddenkemper C, Drouin C, Freyer J, Arnason J, Eberl G, Hamann A, Wagner H, Huehn J, Sparwasser T. J Exp Med. 57-63. (2007)
More Information
Associate Professor
Department of Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine
Lunds Universitet
Lund, Sweden
Associate Professor
Department of Health Technology, Faculty of Medicine
Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
Simone Isling Paerregaard, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
simone.paerregaard@ucalgary.ca
Signe Holst
PhD Student
signe.holst@ucalgary.ca
Delaney Robinson-Wong
PURE Summer Student
delaney.robinsonwong@ucalgary.ca
Barbara Chyz
HSC 1663
Email: chyz@ucalgary.ca
Phone: 403.220.4555
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