Forsthuber, Thomas G., M.D., Ph.D.

Adjunct Professor

Personal Statement:

Dr. Forsthuber has focused on T cell biology and the role of T cells in autoimmune disease in MS and EAE and in infectious diseases for 20 years. He made a significant contribution to the field with his work showing T cell cryptic determinant spreading [1], neonatal Th2 immune deviation [2], development of cytokine ELISPOT assay, and applying humanized HLA-DR transgenic mice for T cell epitope discovery and drug testing [3]. Moreover, his group has developed unique expertise in biomarker discovery for autoimmune diseases [4].

Education

M.D., Medicine at the University of Tubingen, Germany
Ph.D., Immunology at the University of Tubingen, Germany

Research

The immune system plays a fundamental role in the defense against microbial pathogens. However, erroneous activation of the immune system can lead to autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and Type 1 diabetes (T1D). Dr. Forsthuber’s lab pursues several lines of investigation to understand how T cells contribute to autoimmune diseases and protection from infection, and how to modulate T cell immunity for therapeutic purposes in humans.

Autoimmune Diseases

Work in the lab focuses on better understanding the pathologic immune mechanisms that driving autoimmune diseases such as MS, T1D, and autoimmune myocarditis. Specifically, the lab studies immune mechanisms in the central nervous system during experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), the animal model for MS. The lab has generated transgenic and knockout mouse models to investigate the role of important autoimmune disease-related genes such as HLA-DR. Moreover, they study human autoimmune heart disease in a model called experimental autoimmune myocarditis.

Translational Research

Much of the research in the Forsthuber Laboratory is aimed towards direct applicability to human diseases, for example by developing novel drugs for autoimmune diseases, targets for microbial vaccines, or biomarkers to monitor the efficacy of treatments for autoimmune diseases. Along these lines, the lab has helped develop MHC blockers to inhibit the pathogenic effects of human autoimmune disease-associated MHC II molecules, peptide mimetics to eliminate autoimmune T cells with superagonist variant peptides, and cytokine inhibitors.

T Cell Biology

One of the lab’s current interests is the role of MAP kinases in T cell development and function. Moreover, the lab studies T cell memory.

Publications

Sosa, Rebecca A, Murphey, Cathi, Robinson, Rachel R, and Forsthuber, Thomas G. IFN-gamma ameliorates autoimmune encephalomyelitis by limiting myelin lipid peroxidation. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA (2015). pii: 201505955. [Epub ahead of print]
Niannian Ji, Andra Kovalovsky, Günter Fingerle-Rowson, M. Neal Guentzel, and Thomas G. Forsthuber. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor promotes resistance to glucocorticoid treatment in EAE. Neurology: Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation. In press 2(5):139-149 (2015). PMC4529283
I Raphael**; S Mahesula**; K Kalsaria**; V Kotagiri; AB Purkar; M Anjanappa; D Shah; V Pericherla; YLA Jadhav; M Vaynberg; D Noriega; NH Grimaldo; C Wenk; J Gelfond; T.G. Forsthuber*; WE Haskins*. Microwave & Magnetic (M2) Proteomics of the EAE Animal Model of Multiple Sclerosis. Electrophoresis, 33(24):3810-9 (2012) **shared first author, *shared senior authors
Mahesula, S., Raphael, I., Kalsaria, K., Kotagiri, V., Purkar, A.B., Anjanappa, M., Shah, D., Pericherla, V., Jadhav, Y., Gelfond, J., *Forsthuber, T.G., *Haskins, W.E. Immunoenrichment Microwave & Magnetic (IM2) Proteomics for Quantifying CD47 in the EAE Model of Multiple Sclerosis. Electrophoresis, 33(24):3820-9 (2012) *shared senior authors
Itay Raphael; Swetha Mahesula; Anjali Purkar; David Black; Alexis Catala; Jonathon AL Gelfond; Thomas G Forsthuber*; William E. Haskins*. Microwave & Magnetic (M2) Proteomics Reveals CNS-Specific Protein Expression Waves that Precede Clinical Symptoms of Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis. *shared senior authors. Nature Scientific Reports 4:6210 (2014)
Niannian Ji, Andra Kovalovsky, Günter Fingerle-Rowson, M. Neal Guentzel, and Thomas G. Forsthuber. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor promotes resistance to glucocorticoid treatment in EAE. Neurology: Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation. In press (2015)