Kim J. Hasenkrug, Ph.D.

Dr. Hasenkrug received his Ph.D. in cell biology from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1991 and conducted his postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Dr. Bruce Chesebro at the Rocky Mountain Laboratories. In 1998, he established an independent laboratory to study retroviral immunology and mechanisms of vaccine protection. A special focus of his work has been the study of establishment and maintenance of chronic infections and virus escape. Dr. Hasenkrug serves as an affiliated associate professor at Montana State University and as a scientific advisor for the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative.

Scanning electron micrograph of a CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cell isolated from a mouse spleen. Cells such as these protect from autoimmune diseases, but they can also suppress virus-specific immunity and thereby lead to chronic infections.

Description of Research Program

Our research is aimed at understanding host responses to retroviral infections. We use mice infected with Friend murine leukemia virus as a model to study basic immunology. A special interest is in chronic infections, including how chronic infections are established and maintained and developing strategies to prevent and treat them. Using this model we discovered that viruses can subvert the suppressive nature of regulatory T cells to evade immunological destruction by CD8+ T cells.

Current studies are focused on developing a thorough understanding of the mechanisms of regulatory T-cell-mediated suppression at the molecular level. Our in vivo model allows us to rapidly evaluate new approaches to modulation of both CD4+ regulatory T cells and CD8+ target cells with the goal of developing therapies to eradicate chronic infections with viruses such as HIV, hepatitis, and herpes. We have also used this model to determine basic mechanisms of vaccine protection against acute and chronic retroviral infections. The goal of these studies is to develop new ideas for HIV vaccines and therapies.

Editorial Boards

• Current Molecular Medicine
• Virology

Research Group Members

Dr. Chris Burlak, Dr. Lara Myers, Dr. Christoph Amman, Mr. Ronald Messer, Mr. Aaron Carmody

Selected Publications

(View list in PubMed.)

Robertson SJ, Ammann CG, Messer RJ, Carmody AB, Myers L, Dittmer U, Nair S,
Gerlach N, Evans LH, Cafruny WA, Hasenkrug KJ. Suppression of acute anti-friend virus CD8+ T-cell responses by coinfection with lactate dehydrogenase-elevating virus. J Virol. 2008 Jan;82(1):408-18.

Hasenkrug KJ. The leptin connection: regulatory T cells and autoimmunity. Immunity. 2007 Feb;26(2):143-5. Review.

Hasenkrug KJ, Dittmer U. Immune control and prevention of chronic Friend retrovirus infection. Front Biosci. 2007 Jan 1;12:1544-51. Review.

Robertson SJ, Hasenkrug KJ. The role of virus-induced regulatory T cells in immunopathology. Springer Semin Immunopathol. 2006 Aug;28(1):51-62.

Robertson SJ, Messer RJ, Carmody AB, Hasenkrug KJ. In vitro suppression of CD8+ T cell function by Friend virus-induced regulatory T cells. J Immunol. 2006 Mar 15;176(6):3342-9.

Koff WC, Johnson PR, Watkins DI, Burton DR, Lifson JD, Hasenkrug KJ, McDermott AB, Schultz A, Zamb TJ, Boyle R, Desrosiers RC.
HIV vaccine design: insights from live attenuated SIV vaccines. Nat Immunol. 2006 Jan;7(1):19-23. Review.

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