WENDY WATFORD
Assistant Professor

My research is devoted to understanding the mechanisms that regulate host defense on one hand and tolerance on the other. Signal transducers and activators of transcription (Stats) are a family latent cytosolic transcription factors activated by cytokins and growth factors that regulate this pivotal balance. Activated Stats impart distinct effect or functions on developing naive CD4+ T cells to tune adaptive immune responses. The activation of Stat4 by interleukin 12 (IL-12) and related cytokines is critically important in the defense against intracellular pathogens through the Stat4-dependent induction of the potent inflammatory cytokine, interferon-y (IFN-y). This pathway is particularly relevant in light of the recent escalation in the incidence of multi-drug resistant forms of tuberculosis, a leading cause of infectious death. In order to better understand the physiologic functions of Stat4 as they pertain to cell-mediated immunity, we have performed microarray analysis to identify genes regulated by IL-12. Among many IL-12 inductible genes, we identified the mitogene- activated protein kinase Tpl2 (aka MAP3K8)as a bonafide Stat4 target gene. Current research is aimed at understanding the contribution(s) of Tpl2and other Stat4 target genes to the regulation of T helper cell development and host immune responses to infectious and autoimmune disease settings.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Search PubMed for "watford, wt"

Brydges SD, Mueller JL, McGeough MD, Pena CA, Misaghi A, Gandhi C, Putnam CD, Boyle DL, Firestein GS, Horner AA, Soroosh P, Watford WT, O'Shea JJ, Kastner DL, Hoffman HM. 2009. Inflammasome-Mediated Disease Animal Models Reveal Roles for Innate but Not Adaptive Immunity, Immunity 30(6):875-887

O'Shea JJ, Steward-Tharp SM, Laurence A, Watford WT, Wei L, Adamson AS, Fan S. 2009. Signal transduction and Th17 cell differentiation. Microbes Infect, 11(5):599-611.

Charles N, Watford WT, Ramos HL, Hellman L, Oettgen HC, Gomez G, Ryan JJ, O'Shea JJ, Rivera J. 2009. Lyn kinase controls basophil GATA-3 transcription factor expression and induction of Th2 cell differentiation. Immunity, 30(4):533-43.

Wei G, Wei L, Zhu J, Zang C, Hu-Li J, Yao Z, Cui K, Kanno Y, Roh TY, Watford WT, Schones DE, Peng W, Sun HW, Paul WE, O'Shea JJ, Zhao K. 2009. Global mapping of H3K4me3 and H3K27me3 reveals specificity and plasticity in lineage fate determination of differentiating CD4+ T cells. Immunity,30(1):155-67.

Takatori H, Kanno Y, Watford WT, Tato CM, Weiss G, Ivanov II, Littman DR, O'Shea JJ. 2009. Lymphoid tissue inducer-like cells are an innate source of IL-17 and IL-22. J Exp Med, 206(1):35-41.

Watford WT, Hissong BD, Durant LR, Yamane H, Muul LM, Kanno Y, Tato CM, Ramos HL, Berger AE, Mielke L, Pesu M, Solomon B, Frucht DM, Paul WE, Sher A, Jankovic D, Tsichlis PN, O'Shea JJ. 2008. Tpl2 kinase regulates T cell interferon-gamma production and host resistance to Toxoplasma gondii. J Exp Med, 205(12):2803-12.

Feng CG, Zheng L, Jankovic D, Báfica A, Cannons JL, Watford WT, Chaussabel D, Hieny S, Caspar P, Schwartzberg PL, Lenardo MJ, Sher A. 2008. The immunity-related GTPase Irgm1 promotes the expansion of activated CD4+ T cell populations by preventing interferon-gamma-induced cell death. Nat Immunol, 9(11):1279-87.

Pesu M, Watford WT, Wei L, Xu L, Fuss I, Strober W, Andersson J, Shevach EM, Quezado M, Bouladoux N, Roebroek A, Belkaid Y, Creemers J, O'Shea JJ. 2008. T-cell-expressed proprotein convertase furin is essential for maintenance of peripheral immune tolerance. .Nature, 455(7210):246-50.

Laurence A, O'Shea JJ, Watford WT. 2008. Interleukin-22: a sheep in wolf's clothing. Nat Med, 14(3):247-9.

Foulds KE, Rotte MJ, Paley MA, Singh B, Douek DC, Hill BJ, O'Shea JJ, Watford WT, Seder RA, Wu CY. 2008. IFN-gamma mediates the death of Th1 cells in a paracrine manner. J Immunol, 180(2):842-9.

Email
watfordw@uga.edu

Office
357, Vet Med Building
706-542-4585

Degrees
PhD, Duke University, 2001