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Professor Antje Blumenthal

Doctor of Philosophy

Research Group Leader

Projects

Innate immune recognition of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and other pathogens

Molecular mechanisms of macrophage functions

Regulators of immune responses during infection and inflammation

Discovery of novel anti-microbials

About me

A microbiology graduate from Kiel University (Germany), Antje Blumenthal pursued her PhD research in Immunology at the Leibniz Research Center for Medicine and Biosciences (Germany). After postdoctoral work at Weill Cornell Medical College, New York (USA), she now heads the Infection and Inflammation Group at The University of Queensland Diamantina Institute in Brisbane, Australia.

Dr Blumenthal’s research focuses on innate immune sensors, regulators of inflammation, and discovery of new therapeutic opportunities for challenging infectious diseases, with a specific emphasis on tuberculosis and sepsis. Her work is supported by multiple nationally competitive grants and has been recognised internationally and nationally through awrds and speaking invitations. The Blumenthal lab employs in vivo and in vitro model systems, and fosters cross-disciplinary collaborations with immunologists, microbiologists, systems biologists, chemists, clinical research teams and industry partners.

Publications

 

  1. N Overgaard, J Cruz, J Bridge, H Nel, I Frazer, N La Gruta, A Blumenthal, R Steptoe, J Wells. CD4+CD8β+ double-positive T cells in skin-draining lymph nodes respond to inflammatory signals from the skin. J Leukoc Biol Accepted 1.6.2017

 

  1. S Noguchi, T Arakawa, […], A Blumenthal, […] T Kasukawa, P Carninci, H Kawaji, A Forrest, and Y Hayashizaki. FANTOM5 CAGE profiles of human and mouse samples. Scientific Data (Nature Publishing Group open access data platform), accepted 25.4.2017

 

  1. YCE Chen, S Mapp, A Blumenthal, ML Burgess, R Mazzieri, S Mattarollo, P Mollee, D Gill, N Saunders. The duality of macrophage function in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia. BBA Reviews on Cancer, accepted 22.3.2017

 

 

  1. AA Wall, L Luo, Yu Hung, ND Condon, A Blumenthal, MJ Sweet, JL Stow. Rab8a and PI3Kγ regulate signaling and cytokine outputs from endosomal Toll-like receptors J Biol Chem, 2017 Mar 17;292(11):4411-4422.

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  3. Kling J & Blumenthal A. Roles of Wnt, Notch, and Hedgehog signaling in the differentiation and function of innate and innate-like lymphocytes. J Leukoc Biol 2017 Apr;101(4):827-840. (invited review article)

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  5. N Modhiran, D Watterson, A Blumenthal, AG Baxter, PR Young, KJ Stacey. Dengue virus NS1 protein activates immune cells via TLR4 but not TLR2 or 6. Immunology & Cell Biology, 2017 Feb 21, doi: 10.1038/icb.2017.5.

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  7. TE Schultz & A Blumenthal. The RP105/MD-1 complex: molecular signaling mechanisms and pathophysiological implications. J Leukoc Biol 2017 Jan;101(1):183-192 11. (invited review article)

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  9. Cohen J, Pretorius CJ, Ungerer JPJ, Cardinal J, Blumenthal A, Presneill J, Gatica Andrades M, Jarret P, Lassig-Smith M, Stuart J, Dunlop R, Starr T, Venkatesh B. Glucocorticoid sensitivity is highly variable in critically ill patients with septic shock and is associated with disease severity. Critical Care Medicine, 2016 Jun;44(6):1034-41.

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  11. Ariffin JK, Schaale K, Kapetanovic R, Gatica-Andrades M, Blumenthal A, Schroder K, Sweet M. The unbiquitin ligase RNF144B Is LPS-inducible in human but not mouse macrophages, and promotes inducible IL-1b expression. J Leukoc Biol. 2016 Jul;100(1):155-61

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  13. Irvine KM, Clouston AD, Gadd VL, Miller GC, Wong WY, Melino M, Maradana MR, MacDonald K, Lang RA, Sweet MJ, Blumenthal A* (*equal senior author), Powell EE*. Deletion of Wntless in myeloid cells exacerbates liver fibrosis and the ductular reaction in chronic liver injury. Fibrogenesis Tissue Repair. 2015 Oct 15;8:19.

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  15. Yu CH, Micaroni M, Puyskens A, Schultz TE, Yeo JC, Stanley AC, Lucas M, Kurihara J, Dobos KM, Stow JL, Blumenthal A. RP105 Engages Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase p110δ To Facilitate the Trafficking and Secretion of Cytokines in Macrophages during Mycobacterial Infection. J Immunol. 2015 Oct 15;195(8):3890-900.

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  17. Khalil ZG, Raju R, Piggott AM, Salim AA, Blumenthal A, Capon RJ. Aranciamycins I and J, Antimycobacterial Anthracyclines from an Australian Marine-Derived Streptomyces sp. J Nat Prod. 2015 Apr 24;78(4):949-52.

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  19. Ullah MA, Revez JA, Loh Z, Simpson J, Zhang V, Bain L, Varelias A, Rose-John S, Blumenthal A, Smyth MJ, Hill GR, Sukkar MB, Ferreira MA, Phipps S. Allergen-induced IL-6 trans-signaling activates γδ T cells to promote type 2 and type 17 airway inflammation. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2015 Apr 28.

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  21. Gaur RL, Ren K, Blumenthal A, Bhamidi S, Gibbs S, Jackson M, Zare RN, Ehrt S, Ernst JD, Banaei N. LprG-mediated surface expression of lipoarabinomannan is essential for virulence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. PLoS Pathog. 2014 Sep 18;10(9):e1004376. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1004376. eCollection 2014 Sep.

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  23. Khalil ZG, Salim AA, Lacey E, Blumenthal A* (*shared senior author), Capon RJ*. Wollamides: antimycobacterial cyclic hexapeptides from an Australian soil Streptomyces. Org Lett. 2014 Oct 3;16(19):5120-3. (featured article)

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  25. Gosmann C, Mattarollo SR, Bridge JA, Frazer IH, Blumenthal A. IL-17 suppresses immune effector functions in human papillomavirus-associated epithelial hyperplasia. J Immunol. 2014 Sep 1;193(5):2248-57.

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  27. Inder KL, Ruelcke JE, Petelin L, Moon H, Choi E, Rae J, Blumenthal A, Hutmacher D, Saunders NA, Stow JL, Parton RG, Hill MM. Cavin-1/PTRF alters prostate cancer cell-derived extracellular vesicle content and internalization to attenuate extracellular vesicle-mediated osteoclastogenesis and osteoblast proliferation. J Extracell Vesicles. 2014 Jun 25;3. doi: 10.3402/jev.v3.23784. eCollection 2014.

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  29. CH Yu, T.T.K Nguyen, K.M. Irvine, M.J. Sweet, I.H. Frazer, A. Blumenthal.          Recombinant Wnt3a and Wnt5a elicit macrophage cytokine production and tolerization to microbial stimulation via Toll-like receptor 4. Eur J Immunol. 2014 May;44(5):1480-90.

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  31. C Gosmann, IH Frazer, SR Mattarollo*, A Blumenthal*. IL-18, but not IL-12, induces production of IFN-γ in the immunosuppressive environment of HPV16 E7-transgenic hyperplastic skin. J Invest Dermatol, 2014 Oct;134(10):2562-9.

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  33. C Trujillo, A Blumenthal, J Marrero, KY Rhee, D Schnappinger, S Ehrt. Triosephosphate isomerase is dispensable in vitro yet essential for Mycobacterium tuberculosis to establish infection. mBio. 2014 Apr 22;5(2). pii: e00085-14.

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  35. FANTOM Consortium and the RIKEN PMI and CLST (DGT), ARR Forrest, H Kawaji, […] AG Beckhouse, S Pradhan Bhatt, JA Blake, A Blumenthal, B Bodega, A Bonetti, J Briggs, F Brombacher, […] KM Summers, H Suzuki, CO Daub, J Kawai, P Heutink, W Hide, TC Freeman, B Lenhard, VB Bajic, VJ Makeev, A Sandelin, DA Hume, P Carninci, Y Hayashizaki. A promoter-level mammalian expression atlas.                Nature. 2014 Mar 27;507(7493):462-70.

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  37. Raju R, Khalil ZG, Piggott AM, Blumenthal A, Gardiner DL, Skinner-Adams TS, Capon RJ. Mollemycin A: An Antimalarial and Antibacterial Glyco-hexadepsipeptide-polyketide from an Australian Marine-Derived Streptomyces sp. (CMB-M0244). Org Lett. 2014 Mar 21;16(6):1716-9.

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  39. D. Mittal, A.J. Kassianos, L.S. Tran, AS Bergot, A. Blumenthal, G.R. Leggatt, I.H. Frazer. Indoleamine 2,3-dioxigenase activity contributes to local immune suppression in skin expressing human papillomavirus oncoprotein E7. Journal of Investigative Dermatology. J Invest Dermatol. 2013 Dec;133(12):2686-94.

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  41. J. McCaskill, S. Wu, R. Singhania, R. Allavena, A. Blumenthal, N.A.J. McMillan. Efficient biodistribution and gene silencing in the lung epithelium via intravenous liposomal delivery of siRNA. Mol Ther Nucleic Acids. 2013 Jun 4;2:e96.

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  43. D. Skalamera, M. Dahmer, A.S. Purdon, B.M. Wilson, M.V. Ranall, A. Blumenthal, B. Gabrielli, T.J. Gonda. Generation of a Genome Scale Lentiviral Vector Library for EF1a Promoter-Driven Expression of Human ORFs and Identification of Human Genes Affecting Viral Titer. 2012 PLoS ONE 7(12): e51733.

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  45.  Blumenthal, G. Nagalingam, J.H. Huch, L. Walker, G.J. Guillemin, G.A. Smythe, S.  Ehrt, W.J. Britton, B.M. Saunders. Mycobacterium tuberculosis induces potent activation of IDO-1, but this is not essential for the immunological control of infection. 2012 PLoS ONE 7(5): e37314.

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  47. SW. Park, M. Klotzsche, D.J. Wilson, H.I. Boshoff, H. Eoh, U. Manjunatha, A. Blumenthal, K. Rhee, C.E. Barry III, C.C. Aldrich, S. Ehrt, and D. Schnappinger. Evaluating the sensitivity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to biotin deprivation using regulated gene expression. 2011 PLoS Pathogen 7(9) e1002264.

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  49.  Blumenthal, C. Trujillo, S. Ehrt, D. Schnappinger. Simultaneous analysis of multiple Mycobacterium tuberculosis knockdown mutants in vitro and in vivo. 2010 PLoS ONE 5(12): e15667.

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  51.  T.A. Seimon, MJ. Kim, A. Blumenthal, J. Koo, S. Ehrt, H. Wainwright, L.-G. Bekker, G. Kaplan, C. Nathan, I. Tabas, D.G. Russell. Induction of ER stress in macrophages of tuberculosis granulomas.  2010 PLoS ONE 5 (9): e12772.

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  53.  Blumenthal, T. Kobayashi, L.M. Pierini, N. Banaiee, J.D. Ernst, K. Miyake, S. Ehrt. RP105 facilitates macrophage activation by Mycobacterium tuberculosis lipoproteins. 2009 Cell Host Microbe 5(1):35-46.

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  55.  Blumenthal, F. Isovski, K.Y. Rhee. Tuberculosis and malnutrition: ancient associations, fresh insights. Invited review article. 2009 Translational Research 154(1):7-14.                   

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  57.  Blumenthal, S. Ehlers, J. Lauber, J. Buer, C. Lange, T. Goldmann, H. Heine, E. Brandt, N. Reiling. The Wingless homolog WNT5A and its receptor Frizzled-5 regulate inflammatory responses of human mononuclear cells induced by microbial stimulation. 2006 Blood 108(3):965-973. Editorial. Schorey. “Macrophage activation: ‘tis the way the Wnt blows”.     

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  59.  S. Shi, A. Blumenthal, C. Hickey, S. Gandotra, D. Levy, S. Ehrt. Expression of many immunologically important genes in Mycobacterium tuberculosis infected macrophages is independent of both TLR2 and TLR4 but dependent on IFN-alpha-beta receptor and STAT1. 2005 J Immunol 175(5):3318-3328.

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  61.  A. Blumenthal, J. Lauber, R. Hoffmann, M. Ernst, C. Keller, J. Buer, S. Ehlers, N. Reiling. Common and unique gene expression signatures of human macrophages in response to four strains of Mycobacterium avium that differ in their growth and persistence characteristics. 2005 Infect Immun 73(6):3330-3341.

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  63.  S.A. Mohamed, D. Wesch, A. Blumenthal, P. Bruse, K. Windler, M. Ernst, D. Kabelitz, M. Oehmichen, C. Meissner. Detection of the 4977 bp deletion of mitochondrial DNA in different human blood cells. 2004 Exp Gerontol 39(2):181-188.

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  65.  C. Keller, J. Lauber, A. Blumenthal, J. Buer, S. Ehlers. Resistance and susceptibility to tuberculosis analysed at the transcriptome level: Lessons from mouse macrophages. 2004 Tuberculosis (Edinb).84(3-4):144-158.

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  67.  S. Gronow, C. Noah, A. Blumenthal, B. Lindner, H. Brade. Construction of a deep rough mutant of Burkholderia cepacia ATCC 25416 and characterization of its chemical and biological properties. 2003 J Biol Chem 278(3):1647-1655.

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  69.  A. Blumenthal, S. Ehlers, M. Ernst, H.D. Flad, N. Reiling. Control of mycobacterial replication in human macrophages: roles of extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1 and 2 and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways. 2002 Infect Immun 70(9):4961-4971.                  

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  71.  N. Reiling, A. Blumenthal, H.D. Flad, M. Ernst, S. Ehlers. Mycobacteria-induced TNF-alpha and IL-10 formation by human macrophages is differentially regulated at the level of mitogen-activated protein kinase activity. 2001 J Immunol 167(6):3339-3345.

Events / Articles

NEWS & MEDIA
 
TRI RESEARCHER WINS 2020 GEORGINA SWEET AWARD
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NEWS & MEDIA
 
2016 SPORE GRANT WINNERS ANNOUNCED
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NEWS & MEDIA
 
ANTJE BLUMENTHAL HONES IN ON NEW TB DRUGS
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NEWS & MEDIA
 
TRI SPORE GRANT WINNERS ANNOUNCED
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Research fields

Infectious Diseases, Tuberculosis, Sepsis, Innate Immunity, Macrophage Biology

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