The intracellular biochemical signaling pathways promoting their effects in the context of endogenous responses, particularly the role for the signal transducers and activators of transcription (STATs), are being elucidated. To characterize the mechanisms for stress and environmental effects on health, our work is identifying interactions between the neuroendocrine and immune systems. The results have implications for understanding the balance between protective and detrimental immune responses, and the rational design of therapeutic interventions for defense against infections.
SELECTED RECENT REVIEWS, OPINIONS, AND CHAPTERS
Biron, C.A., K. Nguyen, and G. Pien. Innate Immune Responses to LCMV Infections: Natural Killer Cells and Cytokines. In: Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology - Volume 263, Arenaviruses II; Biology and Pathogenesis. M.B.A. Oldstone, ed., Springer-Verlag, p. 7-27, 2002.Biron, C.A. Interferon a and b as an immune regulators - a new look. Immunity 14:661-664, 2001.
Biron, C.A., M. Dalod, and T.P. Salazar-Mather. Innate Immunity and Viral Infections. In: Immunity to Infections. S.H.E. Kaufmann, A. Sherr, and R. Ahmed, eds., American Society for Microbiology, p.139-160, 2001.
Biron, C.A., and L. Brossay. NK and NK T cells in innate defense against viral infections. Curr. Opin. Immunol. 13:458-464, 2001.
Miller, A.H., B.D. Pearce, M.C. Ruzek, and C.A Biron. Interactions between the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and immune system during viral infection: pathways for environmental effects on disease expression. In: Handbook of Physiology, Section 7, The Endocrine System, Volume IV: Coping with the Environment - Neural and Endocrine Mechanisms. B. S. McEwen, ed., Oxford Press, New York, NY, p. 425-450, 2001.
Pearce B.D., C.A. Biron, and A.H. Miller. Neuroendocrine-immune interactions during viral infections. In: Neuroviology, Advances in Virus Research, Vol. 56. M Buchmeier and I. Campbell, eds., Academic Press, New York, NY, p. 469-513, 2001.
Biron, C.A., and G.C. Sen. Interferons and Other Cytokines. In: Fields Virology, Fourth Edition and Fundamental Virology, Fourth Edition. D.M. Knipe, P.M. Howley, D.E. Griffin, R.A. Lamb, M.A. Martin, B. Roizman, and S.E. Straus, eds., Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, p. 321-351, 2001.Karp, C.L., C.A. Biron, and D.N. Irani. Interferon-b in multiple sclerosis: is IL-12 suppression the key? Immunology Today 21:24-28, 2000.
Biron, C.A. Initial and innate responses to virus infection - pattern setting in immunity or disease. Curr. Opin. Microbiol. 2:374-381, 1999.
Biron, C.A., K.B. Nguyen, G.C. Pien, L.P. Cousens, and T.P. Salazar-Mather. Natural killer cells in antiviral defense: function and regulation by innate cytokines. Ann. Rev. Immunol.17:189-220, 1999.
Ahmed, R,. and C.A. Biron. Immunity to viruses. In: Fundamental Immunology, Fourth Edition, W.E. Paul, ed., Lippincott-Raven Publishers, New York, NY, p. 1295-1334, 1998.
Biron, C.A. Role of early cytokines, including alpha and beta interferons (IFN-a/b), in innate and adaptive immune responses to viral infections. Seminars in Immunology 10:383-390, 1998.
McEwen, B.S., C.A. Biron, K.W. Brunson, K. Bulloch, W.H. Chambers, F.S. Dhabhar, R.H. Goldfarb, R.P. Kitson, A.H. Miller, R.L. Spencer, and J.M. Weiss. The role of adrenocorticoids as modulators of immune function in health and disease: neural, endocrine and immune interactions. Brain Research Reviews 23:79-133, 1997.
SELECTED PAPERS
Dalod, M., T.P. Salazar-Mather, L. Malmgaard, C. Lewis,
C. Asselin-Paturel, F. Brière, G.
Trinchieri and C.A. Biron. IFN-a/b
and IL-12 responses to viral infections: pathways regulating dendritic
cell cytokine expression in vivo. J. Exp. Med. 195:517-528,
2002.
Malmgaard, L., T.P. Salazar-Mather, C.A. Lewis, and C.A. Biron.
Promotion of alpha/beta interferon induction during in vivo viral infections
through alpha/beta interferon receptor/Stat1 system-dependent and -independent
pathways. J.
Virol. 76:4520-4525, 2002.
Robbins, S.H., K.B. Nguyen, N. Takahashi, T. Mikamyama, C.A. Biron,
and L. Brossay. Inhibitory functions of the killer cell lectin-like receptor
G1 molecule during the activation of mouse NK cells. J. Immunol. 168:2585-2589,
2002. Cutting Edge Report
Asselin-Paturel, C., A. Boonstra, M. Dalod, I. Durand, N. Yessaad, C.
Dezutter-Dambuyant, A. Vicari, A. O'Garra, C. Biron,
F. Brière, and G. Trinchieri. Mouse type I interferon producing
cells are immature antigen-presenting cells with plasmacytoid morphology.
Provisionally accepted for publication in Nature
Immunology 2:1144-1150, 2001.
Doughty, L.A., K.B. Nguyen, J.E. Durbin, and C.A. Biron.
A role for IFN-a/b in virus infection-induced
sensitization to endotoxin. J.
Immunol. 166:2658-2664, 2001.
Su, H.C., K.B. Nguyen, T.P. Salazar-Mather, M.C. Ruzek, M.Y. Dalod, and
C.A. Biron. NK cell functions restrain T cell responses
during viral infections. Eur.
J. Immunol. 31:3048-3055, 2001.
Wu, C., K.B. Nguyen, G.C. Pien, N. Wang, C. Gullo, D. Howie, M.R. Sosa,
M.J. Edwards, P. Borrows, A.R. Satoskar, A.H. Sharpe, C.A. Biron,
and C. Terhorst. SAP controls T cell responses to virus and terminal differentiation
of TH2 cells. Nature
Immunology 2:410-414, 2001.
Nguyen, K.B., L.P. Cousens, L.A. Doughty, G.C. Pien, J.E. Durbin, and
C.A. Biron. IFN-a/b-mediated inhibition
and promotion of IFN-g: STAT1 resolves a paradox.
Nature
Immunology 1:70-76, 2000.
Pien, G.C., and C.A. Biron. Compartmental differences
in NK cell responsiveness to IL-12 during lymphocytic choriomeningitis
virus (LCMV) infections. J. Immunol. 164:994-1001,
2000.
Pien, G.C., A.R. Satoskar, K. Takeda, S. Akira, and C.A. Biron.
Selective IL-18 requirements for induction of compartmental IFN-g responses during viral infection. J. Immunol. 165:4787-4791,
2000. Cutting Edge Report
Ryman, K.D., W.B. Klimstra, K.B. Nguyen, C.A. Biron,
and R.E. Johnston. Alpha/beta interferon protects adult mice from fatal
Sindbis virus infection and is an important determinant of cell and tissue
tropism. J.
Virol. 74:3366-3378, 2000.
Salazar-Mather, T.P., T.A. Hamilton, and C.A. Biron.
A chemokine-to-cytokine-to-chemokine cascade critical in antiviral defense.
J. Clin. Invest. 105:985-993,
2000.
Sayós, J., K.B. Nguyen, C. Wu, S.E. Stepp, D. Howie, J.D. Schatzle,
V. Kumar, C.A. Biron, and C. Terhorst. Potential pathways
for regulation of NK and T cell responses: differential X-linked lymphoproliferative
syndrome gene product SAP interactions with SLAM and 2B4. Intl. Immunol.
12:1749-1757, 2000.
Taylor, G.A., C.M. Collazo-Custodio, G.S. Yap, K.B. Nguyen, T.A. Gregorio,
L.S. Taylor, B. Eagleson, L. Secrest, E.A. Southen, S.W. Reid, L. Tessarollo,
M. Bray, D.W. McVicar, K. Komsclies-McConville, H.A. Young, C.A.
Biron, A. Sher, and G.F. Vande Woude. Pathogen specific loss
of host resistance in mice lacking the interferon-g-inducible gene IGTP. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
97:751-755, 2000.
Cousens, L.P., R. Peterson, S. Hsu, A. Dorner, J.D. Altman, R. Ahmed,
and C.A. Biron. Two roads diverged: IFN-a/b-
and IL-12-mediated pathways in promoting T cell IFN-g responses during viral infection. J. Exp. Med. 189:1315-1327, 1999.
Klimstra, W.B., K.D. Ryman, K.A. Bernard, K.B. Nguyen, C.A. Biron,
and R.E. Johnston. Infection of neonatal mice with Sindbis virus results
in a systemic inflammatory response syndrome. J. Virol. 73: 10387-10398, 1999.
Nguyen, K.B., and C.A. Biron. Synergism for cytokine-mediated
disease during concurrent endotoxin and viral challenges: roles for natural
killer and T cell IFN-g production. J. Immunol. 162:5238-5246, 1999.
Ruzek, M.C., B.D. Pearce, A.H. Miller, and C.A. Biron.
Endogenous glucocorticoids protect against cytokine-mediated lethality
during virus infection. J. Immunol. 162:3527-3533, 1999.
She, J., M.C. Ruzek, P. Velupillai, I. de Aos, B. Wang, D.A. Harn, J.
Sancho, C.A. Biron, and C. Terhorst. Generation of antigen
specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes and regulation of cytokine production
takes place in the absence of CD3z. Int. Immunol. 11:845-858, 1999.
Salazar-Mather, T.P., J.S. Orange, and C.A. Biron. Early
murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) infection induces liver natural killer (NK)
cell inflammation and protection through macrophage inflammatory protein
1 a (MIP-1a)-dependent pathways. J. Exp. Med. 187:1-14, 1998.
Su, H.C., L.P. Cousens, L.D. Fast, M.K. Slifka, R.D. Bungiro, R. Ahmed,
and C.A. Biron. CD4+ and CD8+ T cell interactions in
IFN-g and IL-4 responses to viral infections: requirements for
IL-2. J. Immunol. 160:5007-5017, 1998.
Bonyadi, M., S.A.B. Rusholme, F.M. Cousins, H.C. Su, C.A. Biron,
M. Farrall, and A.J. Akhurst. Mapping of a major genetic modifier of embryonic
lethality in TGFb1 knockout mice. Nature Genetics 15:207-211, 1997.
Cousens, L.P., J.S. Orange, H.C. Su, and C.A. Biron.
Interferon-a/b inhibition of interleukin 12 and interferon-g production in vitro and endogenously during viral infection.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94:634-639, 1997.
Orange, J.S., T.P. Salazar-Mather, S.M. Opal, and C.A. Biron.
Mechanisms for virus-induced disease: tumor necrosis factor-mediated
pathology independent of natural killer and T cells during murine cytomegalovirus
infection. J. Virol. 71:9248-9258, 1997.
Miller, A.H., R.L. Spencer, B.D. Pearce, T.L. Pisell, P. Tanapat, J.J.
Leung, F.S. Dhabhar, B.S. McEwen, and C.A. Biron. Effects
of viral infection on glucocorticoid secretion and glucocorticoid receptor
binding in immune tissues. Psychoneuroendocrinology 22:455-474, 1997.
Ruzek, M.C., A.H. Miller, S.M. Opal, B.D. Pearce, and C.A. Biron.
Characterization of early cytokine responses and an IL-6-dependent pathway
of endogenous glucocorticoid induction during murine cytomegalovirus infection.
J. Exp. Med. 185:1185-1192, 1997.
Orange, J.S., and C.A. Biron. An absolute and restricted
requirement for interleukin 12 (IL-12) in natural killer (NK) cell interferon-g (IFN-g) production and antiviral
defense: studies of NK and T cell responses in contrasting viral infections.
J. Immunol. 156:1138-1142, 1996.
Salazar-Mather, T.P., R. Ishikawa, and C.A. Biron. Natural
killer (NK) cell trafficking and cytokine expression in splenic compartments
after IFN induction and viral infection. J. Immunol. 157:3054-3064, 1996.
Orange, J.S., B. Wang, C. Terhorst, and C.A. Biron. Requirement
for natural killer (NK) cell-produced interferon g in defense against murine cytomegalovirus infection and enhancement
of this defense pathway by interleukin 12 administration. J. Exp. Med. 182:1045-1056, 1995.
Professor
Ph.D., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1980
Brown University
Bio-Med Center, Rm. 629
(401) 863-2921
Christine_Biron@brown.edu