Xiaoyang Hua
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, TX·Microbiology & Immunology
Upper respiratory virus infections, such as colds, cause about 80% of asthma attacks, yet the reason is poorly understood. It is unclear whether attacks result from the virus reaching the lungs, from infection in the nose and upper airway, or from both.
- Fields
Microbiology & Immunology
Medicine & Clinical Research
Physiology
- Topics
asthma
upper respiratory virus infection
respiratory viruses
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Mar 2028
What they work on
- Define the immune mechanisms by which a virus infecting only the nose recruits antigen-presenting cells to the lungs and boosts innate and adaptive lung immunity, a process called nose-lung cross talk.
- Determine how nasal viral infection changes airway function and airway inflammation in mice with experimental asthma.
- Identify the mechanisms by which upper respiratory virus infection triggers asthma exacerbations through nose-lung cross talk, to inform prevention, treatment and nasal vaccine design.
More about the research
In earlier studies, viruses commonly tied to asthma attacks were not found in the lungs of patients who died of those attacks. The lab has observed that infection in the nose alone can activate lung immunity remotely, without the lungs being directly exposed. Nasal infection recruits antigen-presenting cells (immune cells that capture foreign material and show it to other immune cells) into the lungs. These cells then carry unrelated material to lymph nodes near the lungs, boosting both fast, general (innate) and slower, targeted (adaptive) immune responses. The lab calls this "nose-lung cross talk."
Why it matters
Colds and other upper respiratory viruses drive most asthma attacks. Understanding how nasal infection affects the lungs could point to new preventive and therapeutic strategies for people with asthma. Better knowledge of the nasal immune system could also support nasal vaccines against airborne pathogens and immunotherapies for diseases that affect both the nose and the lungs.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Anny Zhou
University of Virginia, VA·Microbiology & Immunology
Dissect the molecular mechanism by which GSDMB, an asthma-linked gene on chromosome 17q21, promotes interferon signaling and the expression of interferon-stimulated genes in human airway epithelial cells treated with RNA viruses or the viral RNA mimic poly(I:C).
Karen Swanson
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC·Microbiology & Immunology
Define the mechanism by which the human protein STING, normally an antiviral sensor, acts as a host factor supporting genome replication of rhinovirus species RV-A and RV-C but not RV-B.
Sudeep Kumar
Albany Medical College, NY·Microbiology & Immunology
Test whether delivering protein antigens to human FcγRI, an antibody-tail receptor on macrophages and dendritic cells, promotes cross-presentation, using an antigen-binding fragment of an anti-hFcγRI antibody that avoids engaging other Fc receptors.
The school
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston: 25 labs on PI Pages, $419M a year on research, 340 research doctorates a year.
More about University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
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