Laurel L Lenz Jr
PhD
- Integrated Department of Immunology
- Assistant Professor
- Phone
- 303-398-1767
- Fax
- 303-398-1396
- Email
- lenzl@njhealth.org
- Website Address
- University Profile
- Gender
- Male
Specialties
Research
Basic Immunology, Innate Immunity, Inflammation, Infectious Diseases
Affiliation with University of Colorado Denver
Primary appointment in the Integrated Department of Immunology
Secondary appointment in the Department of Microbiology
Professional Memberships/Societies
American Association of Immunologists
American Society for Microbiology
Society for Natural Immunity
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Publications by This Author
Link to Faculty Publications
Link to PubMed for more papers
Research Interests
My lab studies the regulation and function of immune responses during early stages of microbial infection. We use molecular and cellular approaches to investigate how bacterial pathogens interact with their mammalian hosts. Our long-term goal is to identify novel therapeutic approaches to improve host resistance to infectious and inflammatory diseases.
Our current research focuses in on defining how microbes subvert host innate immune responses; including the role of secreted bacterial autolysins in bacterial virulence and immune subversion, the basis and consequences of natural killer (NK) cell responses to bacterial infection, and the identification and characterization of novel immune-modulating bacterial proteins. The pathogens our work focuses on include Listeria monocytogenes and Francisella tularensis.
Education & Training
Education
- University of Washington
- PhD, 1998
Recent or Important Publications
Humann J, Lenz, LL. Bacterial Peptidoglycan-Degrading Enzymes and Their Impact on Host Muropeptide Detection. J Innate Immun. (In press)
Lenz LL, Huang WA, Zhou C, Li Z, Calendar R. Stable integration vector for nutrient broth-based selection of attenuated Listeria monocytogenes strains with recombinant antigen expression. Clin Vaccine Immunol. 2008 Sep;15(9):1414-9.
Lenz LL, Andrews-Polymenis HL. Silencing the alarm: insights into the interaction between host and pathogen. Conference on Microbial Pathogenesis: Mechanisms of Infectious Disease. EMBO Rep. 2008 Jan;9(1):27-32
Humann J, Bjordahl R, Andreasen K, Lenz LL. Expression of the p60 autolysin enhances NK cell activation and is required for Listeria monocytogenes expansion in IFN-gamma-responsive mice. J Immunol. 2007 Feb 15;178(4):2407-14.
Lenz LL, Mohammadi S, Geissler A, Portnoy DA. SecA2-dependent secretion of autolytic enzymes promotes Listeria monocytogenes pathogenesis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003 Oct 14;100(21):12432-7.
