Ragon Institute Dang Lab
Fungi, barrier tissues, innate and adaptive immunity
Lab Overview
The Dang lab studies the molecular and cellular interactions between fungi and their hosts. Mammalian barrier tissues (gut, skin, lungs) are constantly stimulated by microbes that play important roles in shaping host immunity and physiology. While fungi are important components of our commensal flora, fungal dysbiosis can lead to chronic allergic disorders such as asthma Additionally, fungal pathogens cause a high human disease burden, leading to 10 million infections and up to 2 million deaths per year globally. These infections are difficult to treat, due to a lack of effective drugs and the increased emergence of drug-resistant pathogens. We lack a clear understanding of how these eukaryotic microorganisms engage with mammalian hosts to control physiological versus pathological outcomes.
Our laboratory operates at the intersection of microbiology and immunology to understand the factors that dictate outcomes upon fungal exposure to barrier tissues. We take an interdisciplinary approach leveraging fungal/mouse genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, CRISPR, cellular immunology, and imaging approaches to address this topic.
Eric Dang, PhD
Principal Investigator
Affiliation
- Core Member, Ragon Institute of Mass General Brigham, MIT, and Harvard
About
Dr. Dang received his undergraduate degree in Public Health Studies from Johns Hopkins University in 2010, where he studied T cell differentiation in the lab of Dr. Drew Pardoll. After college, he spent a year in London working in Dr. Anne O’Garra’s lab at the National Institute for Medical Research in Mill Hill. After a brief stint in medical school, he performed his graduate thesis work at the University of California, San Francisco in the laboratory of Dr. Jason Cyster. There he studied the role of oxysterols and cholesterol metabolism in regulating macrophage inflammatory responses. After receiving his Ph.D. in 2018, Dr. Dang joined the laboratory of Dr. Hiten Madhani at UCSF for his postdoctoral work. There he used forward genetic approaches to study mechanisms of immune system manipulation by the fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans. Dr. Dang was hired as a tenure-track investigator in the NIAID Laboratory of Host Immunity and Microbiome in 2022. His group focuses on understanding the crosstalk between fungal pathogens/commensals and mammalian hosts.
Related Research Foci
- Fundamental Immunology
- Global Health
- Mucosal Immunology
- Infectious Disease Pathogenesis
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Contact UsLatest From The Lab
Selected Publications
Secreted fungal virulence effector triggers allergic inflammation via TLR4.
Nature. 2022 Aug; 608(7921): 161-167.
Oxysterol Restraint of Cholesterol Synthesis Prevents AIM2 Inflammasome Activation.
Cell. 2017 Nov 16;171(5):1057-1071.e11.
Distinct oxysterol requirements for positioning naïve and activated dendritic cells in the spleen.
Sci Immunol. 2017 Apr 7;2(10):eaal5237.
Inflammation. 25-Hydroxycholesterol suppresses interleukin-1-driven inflammation downstream of type I interferon.
Science. 2014 Aug 8;345(6197):679-84.
Control of T(H)17/T(reg) balance by hypoxia-inducible factor 1.
Cell. 2011 Sep 2;146(5):772-84.