Grants per year
Personal profile
Research Interests
Research interests: Mechanisms underlying sex-related differences in autoimmune disease; meningeal inflammation and how it impacts CNS degenerative disease. Multiple Sclerosis, a CNS inflammatory disease, is the result of dysregulation of normally protective immune responses. In this disease, pathogenic immune cells gain access to the brain and spinal cord and the ensuing inflammation causes damage to myelinated nerves. Our laboratory studies how certain classes of innate immune cells, particularly mast cells and innate lymphoid cells, promote Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a CNS demyelinating disease, regulate these aberrant responses. Using a rodent model of MS, Experimental autoimmune/allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE), our work has shown that mast cells in the meninges are activated early in this disease and promote the opening of the blood brain barrier (BBB), vasculature that is relatively impermeable and normally sequesters the CNS from the entry of inflammatory cells. Current studies are focused on understanding how meningeal mast cells influence these events. In the process, we have established a new paradigm for the mast cell mediated inflammation of the meninges in immunity. A second line of research investigates the basis for sex-determined differences in MS. It is well established that females show a 3:1 higher incidence and distinct disease presentation than men. Using a mouse model of disease that recapitulates this sex dimorphism in susceptibility, we are studying the role of hormones in altering the immune responses that exacerbate disease in females and protect from disease in males.
Training Experience
1987 | Fellowship, National Institutes of Health |
Education/Academic qualification
PhD, University of Washington
… → 1983
Research interests keywords
- Allergies
- Autoimmune Diseases
- Autoimmunity
- Immune Regulation
- Immune System
- Molecular Biology
- Neuroscience
Fingerprint
- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
-
Medical Scientist Training Program
Hauser, A. R., Brown, M. A. & Kalb, R. G.
National Institute of General Medical Sciences
7/1/22 → 6/30/27
Project: Research project
-
Distinct mast cell responses in male and female SJL mice underlie sex dimorphic EAE susceptibility
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
7/14/17 → 6/30/22
Project: Research project
-
c-kit Differentially Regulates EAE Susceptibility in Male and Female SJL Mice
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
4/1/15 → 3/31/18
Project: Research project
-
Selectin-selectin ligand interactions that regulate immune cell trafficking to the CNS
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
7/1/14 → 6/30/15
Project: Research project
-
Meningeal Mast Cells as Orchestrators of Inflammation in EAE
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
10/1/12 → 9/30/15
Project: Research project
-
ASC-dependent inflammasomes contribute to immunopathology and mortality in herpes simplex encephalitis
Hayes, C. K., Wilcox, D. R., Yang, Y., Coleman, G. K., Brown, M. A. & Longnecker, R., Feb 1 2021, In: PLoS pathogens. 17, 2, e1009285.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access13 Scopus citations -
Early stress-response gene redd1 controls oxazolone-induced allergic contact dermatitis
Mirzoeva, S., Yang, Y., Klopot, A., Budunova, I. & Brown, M. A., Oct 1 2021, In: Journal of Immunology. 207, 7, p. 1747-1754 8 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access2 Scopus citations -
An inconvenient variable: Sex hormones and their impact on T Cell responses
Brown, M. A. & Su, M. A., 2019, In: Journal of Immunology. 202, 7, p. 1927-1933 7 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Open Access36 Scopus citations -
Male-specific IL-33 expression regulates sex-dimorphic EAE susceptibility
Russi, A. E., Ebel, M. E., Yang, Y. & Brown, M. A., Feb 13 2018, In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 115, 7, p. E1520-E1529Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access77 Scopus citations -
Mast cell inflammasome activity in the meninges regulates EAE disease severity
Russi, A. E., Walker-Caulfield, M. E. & Brown, M. A., Apr 2018, In: Clinical Immunology. 189, p. 14-22 9 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
24 Scopus citations
Datasets
-
Gene expression profiling reveals mast cell-dependent inflammation in the meninges in early EAE.
Hessner, M. J. (Contributor) & Brown, M. A. (Contributor), Gene Expression Omnibus, 2013
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/query/acc.cgi?acc=GSE37191
Dataset