Lee J. Quinton, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine
College Education: University of Southern Mississippi, B.S., 1999
Graduate School: Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Ph.D., 2003
Post-Doctoral Fellowships:
* Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, 2004 (Pulmonary Host Defense. Gregory J. Bagby Ph.D. and Steve Nelson M.D.)
* Harvard School of Public Health, 2005-2008 (Pulmonary Host Defense, Joseph P. Mizgerd, Sc.D.)
Special Interests:
* Pneumonia
* The acute phase response
* Cytokine regulation
* Acute lung injury
Lung infections account for a tremendous burden of disease, representing the most frequent cause of infection-related deaths and a common cause of acute lung injury. The innate immune response is critical for the prevention of lower respiratory tract infections. Yet, this response must be tightly regulated, such that adequate host defenses do not result in inflammatory lung injury. Our long-term goal is to elucidate intra- and extra-pulmonary signaling events required for an immune response that is both effective and balanced. The local response to lung infections includes neutrophil recruitment, expression of soluble mediators such as cytokines, and the extravasation of plasma constituents from the vascular space into the alveolar space. The result is an inflammatory milieu and cellular composition that promotes local immune responsiveness. This physiologic transition within the lung, however, occurs in tandem with a systemic acute phase response (APR), typified by altered circulating levels of acute phase proteins (APPs). While the APR has long been recognized as a useful biomarker of disease progression during pneumonia, the collective impact of APPs on inflammation and host defense are unknown. We have recently shown that the cytokines TNF-alpha, IL-1, and IL-6, which are critical for maximal host defense during pneumonia, are also essential for the activation of downstream transcription factors and the expression of APPs in the liver. Therefore, the hepatic APR may be a systemic conduit through which select cytokines promote the immune response to lung infection. Understanding how APPs and other extra-pulmonary factors integrate with local responses in the lung to promote immunity and tissue protection during pneumonia will help to identify novel prognostic indicators and therapeutics for this important disease.
Selected Publications:
1. Pittet LA, Quinton LJ, Yamamoto K, Robson BE, Ferrari JD, Algul H, Schmid RM, and Mizgerd JP (2011) Earliest innate immune responses require macrophage RelA during pneumococcal pneumonia. Am J Respir Cell Mol Bio [Epub ahead of print]
2. Quinton LJ and Mizgerd JP (2011) NF-KB and STAT3 signaling hubs for innate immunity. Cell Tissue Res 343 (1): 153-65
3. Jones MR, Quinton LJ, Blahna MT, Neilson JR, Fu S, Ivanov AR, Wolf DA, and Mizgerd JP (2009) Zcchc11-dependent uridylation of microRNA directs cytokine expression. Nat Cell Biol 11(9): 1157-63
4. Quinton, L.J., Jones, M.R., Robson, B.E., and Mizgerd, J.P. (2009) Mechanisms of the hepatic acute phase response during bacterial pneumonia. Infection and Immunity 77: 2417-26
5. Gamble, L., Bagby, G.J., Quinton, L.J., Happel, K.I., Mizgerd, J.P., Zhang, P., and Nelson, S. (2009) The systemic and pulmonary lipopolysaccharide binding protein response to intratracheal lipopolysaccharide. Shock 31 (2): 212-7
6. Quinton, L.J., Jones, M.R., Robson, B.E., Simms, B.T., Whitsett, J.A., and Mizgerd, J.P. (2008) Alveolar epithelial STAT3, IL-6 family cytokines, and host defense during Escherichia coli pneumonia. American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology 38 (6): 699-706
7. Happel, K.I., Rudner, X; Quinton, L.J., Movassaghi, J.L., Clark, C., Odden, A.R., Zhang, P., Bagby, G.J., Nelson, S., and Shellito, J.E. (2007) Acute alcohol intoxication suppresses the pulmonary ELR-negative CXC chemokine response to lipopolysaccharide. Alcohol 41 (5): 325-333
8. Quinton, L.J., Jones, M.R., Simms, B.T., Kogan, M.S., Robson, B.E., Wilson, C.B., Skerrett, S.J., and Mizgerd, J.P. (2007) Functions and regulation of NF-kB RelA during pneumococcal pneumonia. Journal of Immunology 178 (3):1896-903.
9. Johnston R.A., Mizgerd J.P., Flynt L., Quinton L.J., Williams E.S., and Shore S.A. (2007) Type I interleukin-1 receptor is required for pulmonary responses to subacute ozone exposure in mice. American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology 37(4):477-484
10. Krishnamurthy, V.M., Quinton, L.J., Estroff, L.A., Metallo, S.J., Isaacs, J.M., Mizgerd, J.P., and Whitesides, G.M. (2006) A bifunctional polymer promotes the opsonization by antibodies and subsequent phagocytosis of gram-positive bacteria. Biomaterials 27 (19): 3663-3674
11. Jones, M.R., Quinton, L.J., Simms, B.T., Lupa, M.M., Kogan, M.S., and Mizgerd, J.P. (2006) Roles of interleukin-6 in STAT activation and neutrophil recruitment during Escherichia coli pneumonia. Journal of Infectious Diseases. 93 (3): 360-369
