Immunobiology
Alenghat Lab

Alenghat Research Lab

The Alenghat Lab investigates epithelial and immune cell homeostasis in the context of intestinal health and disease. The goals of the lab are to provide insight into molecular mechanisms, including epigenomic pathways, that mediate the host-microbiota relationship and to examine how this level of regulation affects innate immunity and chronic conditions, such as inflammatory bowel disease.

Publications

Selected Publications

Eshleman, EM; Shao, TY; Woo, V; Rice, T; Engleman, L; Didriksen, BJ; Whitt, J; Haslam, DB; Way, SS; Alenghat, T. Intestinal epithelial HDAC3 and MHC class II coordinate microbiota-specific immunity. The Journal of Clinical Investigation. 2023; 133:e162190.

Woo, V; Eshleman, EM; Hashimoto-Hill, S; Whitt, J; Wu, SE; Engleman, L; Rice, T; Karns, R; Qualls, JE; Haslam, DB; et al. Commensal segmented filamentous bacteria-derived retinoic acid primes host defense to intestinal infection. Cell Host and Microbe. 2021; 29:1744-1756.e5.

Wu, S; Hashimoto-Hill, S; Woo, V; Eshleman, EM; Whitt, J; Engleman, L; Karns, R; Denson, LA; Haslam, DB; Alenghat, T. Microbiota-derived metabolite promotes HDAC3 activity in the gut. Nature. 2020; 586:108-112.

Oherle, K; Acker, E; Bonfield, M; Wang, T; Gray, J; Lang, I; Bridges, J; Lewkowich, I; Xu, Y; Ahlfeld, S; et al. Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 Supports a Pulmonary Niche that Promotes Type 3 Innate Lymphoid Cell Development in Newborn Lungs. Immunity. 2020; 52:275-294.e9.

Kelly, D; Kotliar, M; Woo, V; Jagannathan, S; Whitt, J; Moncivaiz, J; Aronow, BJ; Dubinsky, MC; Hyams, JS; Markowitz, JF; et al. Microbiota-sensitive epigenetic signature predicts inflammation in Crohn's disease. JCI insight. 2018; 3:e122104.

Whitt, J; Woo, V; Lee, P; Moncivaiz, J; Haberman, Y; Denson, L; Tso, P; Alenghat, T. Disruption of Epithelial HDAC3 in Intestine Prevents Diet-Induced Obesity in Mice. Gastroenterology. 2018; 155:501-513.

Jiang, TT; Shao, T; Ang, WX G; Kinder, JM; Turner, LH; Pham, G; Whitt, J; Alenghat, T; Way, SS. Commensal Fungi Recapitulate the Protective Benefits of Intestinal Bacteria. Cell Host and Microbe. 2017; 22:809-816.e4.

Whitsett, JA; Alenghat, T. Respiratory epithelial cells orchestrate pulmonary innate immunity. Nature Immunology. 2015; 16:27-35.

Alenghat, T; Osborne, LC; Saenz, SA; Kobuley, D; Ziegler, CG K; Mullican, SE; Choi, I; Grunberg, S; Sinha, R; Wynosky-Dolfi, M; et al. Histone deacetylase 3 coordinates commensal-bacteria-dependent intestinal homeostasis. Nature. 2013; 504:153-157.

2023

Velez Lopez, A; Waddell, A; Antonacci, S; Castillo, D; Santucci, N; Ollberding, NJ; Eshleman, EM; Denson, LA; Alenghat, T. Microbiota-derived butyrate dampens linaclotide stimulation of the guanylate cyclase C pathway in patient-derived colonoids. Neurogastroenterology and Motility. 2023; 35:e14681.

Eshleman, EM; Alenghat, T. Cleaving an epithelial path to food tolerance. Cell Research. 2023; 33:896-897.

Shao, TY; Jiang, TT; Stevens, J; Russi, AE; Troutman, TD; Bernieh, A; Pham, G; Erickson, JJ; Eshleman, EM; Alenghat, T; et al. Kruppel-like factor 2+ CD4 T cells avert microbiota-induced intestinal inflammation. Cell Reports. 2023; 42:113323.

Overcast, GR; Meibers, HE; Eshleman, EM; Saha, I; Waggoner, L; Patel, KN; Jain, VG; Haslam, DB; Alenghat, T; Vandussen, KL; et al. IEC-intrinsic IL-1R signaling holds dual roles in regulating intestinal homeostasis and inflammation. The Journal of Experimental Medicine. 2023; 220:e20212523.

Kharofa, J; Apewokin, S; Alenghat, T; Ollberding, NJ. Metagenomic analysis of the fecal microbiome in colorectal cancer patients compared to healthy controls as a function of age. Cancer Medicine. 2023; 12:2945-2957.

2022

Woo, V; Alenghat, T. Epigenetic regulation by gut microbiota. Gut Microbes. 2022; 14:2022407.

Grasset, EK; Alenghat, T. Good intentions gone wrong: The B cell block to epithelial repair. Immunity. 2022; 55:2222-2224.

Fawad, JA; Luzader, DH; Hanson, GF; Moutinho, TJ; McKinney, CA; Mitchell, PG; Brown-Steinke, K; Kumar, A; Park, M; Lee, S; et al. Histone Deacetylase Inhibition by Gut Microbe-Generated Short-Chain Fatty Acids Entrains Intestinal Epithelial Circadian Rhythms. Gastroenterology. 2022; 163:1377-1390.e11.

Hashimoto-Hill, S; Colapietro, L; Woo, V; Antonacci, S; Whitt, J; Engleman, L; Alenghat, T. Dietary phytate primes epithelial antibacterial immunity in the intestine. Frontiers in Immunology. 2022; 13:952994.

Negi, S; Hashimoto-Hill, S; Alenghat, T. Neonatal microbiota-epithelial interactions that impact infection. Frontiers in Microbiology. 2022; 13:955051.

Eshleman, EM; Shao, T; Woo, V; Rice, T; Whitt, J; Engleman, L; Way, SS; Alenghat, T. Epithelial MHC class II directs microbiota-specific intestinal immune homeostasis. Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950). 2022; 208:115.03.

Eshleman, E; Shao, T; Woo, V; Rice, T; Whitt, J; Engleman, L; Way, SS; Alenghat, T. Intestinal epithelial MHC class II regulation by HDAC3 instructs microbiota-specific CD4+ T cells. 2022; 2022.01.01.473735.

2021

Eshleman, EM; Alenghat, T. Epithelial sensing of microbiota-derived signals. Genes and Immunity. 2021; 22:237-246.

Hashimoto-Hill, S; Alenghat, T. Inflammation-Associated Microbiota Composition Across Domestic Animals. Frontiers in Genetics. 2021; 12:649599.

Hashimoto-Hill, S; Kelly, DR; Alenghat, T. Chapter 12 Epigenomics of intestinal disease. Medical Epigenetics. : Elsevier; Elsevier; 2021.

2020

Almanan, M; Raynor, J; Ogunsulire, I; Malyshkina, A; Mukherjee, S; Hummel, SA; Ingram, JT; Saini, A; Xie, MM; Alenghat, T; et al. IL-10-producing Tfh cells accumulate with age and link inflammation with age-related immune suppression. Science Advances. 2020; 6:eabb0806.

Overcast, G; Eshleman, E; Alenghat, T; Pasare, C. Epithelial cell intrinsic IL-1R signaling regulates intestinal homeostasis and inflammation. Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950). 2020; 204:235.6.

Boucher, AA; Rosenfeldt, L; Mureb, D; Shafer, J; Sharma, BK; Lane, A; Crowther, RR; McKell, MC; Whitt, J; Alenghat, T; et al. Cell type-specific mechanisms coupling protease-activated receptor-1 to infectious colitis pathogenesis. Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis. 2020; 18:91-103.

2019

Woo, V; Eshleman, EM; Rice, T; Whitt, J; Vallance, BA; Alenghat, T. Microbiota Inhibit Epithelial Pathogen Adherence by Epigenetically Regulating C-Type Lectin Expression. Frontiers in Immunology. 2019; 10:928.

Alenghat Lab

Science Blog

Asthma and Allergy

Can the Bugs in Our Guts Help Manage Inflammation?

Theresa Alenghat, VMD, PhD1/30/2024

Digestive System

Without a Healthy Immune System, Too Much ‘Good’ Bacteria Can Become a Bad Thing

Theresa Alenghat, VMD, PhD, Sing Sing Way, MD, PhD, David B. Haslam, MD2/15/2023

Tools for Science

Alenghat, Gardner Grace the Stage at TEDx CincinnatiWomen Event

Theresa Alenghat, VMD, PhD11/18/2021

Contact Us

Theresa Alenghat, VMD, PhD

Phone: 513-803-7498
Email: theresa.alenghat@cchmc.org

Research Fellow positions now available.

Apply today

In the News

In her TedTalk, Dr. Alenghat shares how bacteria in the gut communicate with cells and how this relationship can be affected by diet.

Dr. Alenghat named Pew scholar.

Read the article "Gut Reaction" in Research Horizons featuring Dr. Alenghat's work exploring relationships between what we ingest, the cells lining our intestine, and the trillions of commensal bacteria (normal flora) living there.

Dr. Alenghat wins the The inaugural 2015 AGA-CCFA-Janssen Research Award in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Epigenetics Research

Read the article "Med Student Aims to be a Physician-Scientist; Likes Poking Around in Guts." featuring Patrick Lee from the Alenghat Lab.

Read the article "One Gut, a Couple Trillion Microbes, and an Enduring Mystery" in Research Horizons.