Dysbiosis of the intestinal microbiome is linked to multiple chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, metabolic disease, and neurodegenerative diseases. However, how commensal bacteria and microbiome alterations impact the gastrointestinal, peripheral, and CNS immune system, particularly the innate/inflammatory cells such neutrophils and macrophages, remains largely unexamined. The Hensley-McBain lab studies the immune mediators that connect microbial dysbiosis to disease using mouse models and in vitro systems to inform targeted therapeutic approaches for chronic inflammatory conditions, including neurodegenerative diseases and chronic viral infections.
Specific projects aim to: 1) Investigate the mechanism of neutrophil lifespan modulation by lactobacillusspecies; 2) Elucidate connections between gastrointestinal immune cells (neutrophils, macrophages) and the microbiome in neurodegenerative diseases and virally-mediated neurocognitive disorders; 3) Investigate the role of reduced efferocytosis by microglia and CNS macrophages in the progression of neurodegenerative diseases and virally-mediated neurocognitive disorders; 4) Investigate the impact of immunomodulation/microbiome modulation on microglia and CNS macrophage functionality and the progression of neurodegenerative diseases and virally-mediated neurocognitive disorders.