Positions
- Assistant Professor
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Medicine
Immunology, Allergy & Rheumatology
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, TX US
- Graduate Faculty Member
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Immunology & Microbiology
Baylor College of Medicine
- Graduate Faculty Member
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Development, Disease Models & Therapeutics
Baylor College of Medicine
- Core Faculty
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Center for Translational Research on Inflammatory Diseases (CTRID)
Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas United States
Addresses
- Main Office (Office)
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Baylor College of Medicine
Room: N903.02 Alkek
Houston, TX 77030
United States
Phone: (713) 798-2664
Education
- PhD from University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
- Houston, Texas United States
- Genetics, Development, Programmed Cell Death
- Postdoctoral Fellowship at Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
- Cambridge, United Kingdom
- microRNAs, Immunology, Stem cells, Genomics
Professional Interests
- microRNA regulation of COPD and IPF
- lung repair and regeneration
- contribution of inflammation on lung injury
Professional Statement
My lab is interested in microRNAs as powerful genetic and epigenetic modifiers of advanced lung injury and disease. Our approach is multipronged and we work with genetically modified mice and clinical samples to decipher the mechanism of action of microRNAs. The scope of our research is wide and for example, we have shown the importance of miRNAs in adaptive and/or innate immunity (i.e. miR-155, miR-22), heart failure (i.e. miR-22), and lung injury (i.e. miR-22). Our most recent projects focuses on the let-7 miRNA as a master regulator of inflammation in immune cell compartments (T cells and macrophages) as well as alveolar progenitor stem cells (AT2 cells). We have found that genetic manipulation of let-7 miRNA in immune cells compartment sensitizes mice to lung inflammation and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. On the other hand, we found that let-7 miRNA we found that conditional inactivation of let-7 microRNA clusters specifically in alveolar AT2 cells in mice promotes spontaneous age-dependent parenchymal remodeling with features of interstitial lung disease. Current work Based on transcriptomic data suggests that let-7 serves as an essential coordinator of AT2 cell survival, progenitor stem cell renewal, and AT1 differentiation. Our combined work will elucidate a fundamental repair and regeneration process in the lung and pave the way for new targetable pathways for drug discovery in advanced lung disease(s).Selected Publications
- Nam JW, Rissland OS, Koppstein D, Abreu-Goodger C, Jan CH, Agarwal V, Yildirim MA, Rodriguez A, Bartel DP "Global analyses of the effect of different cellular contexts on microRNA targeting." Mol Cell. 2014 Mar 20; Pubmed PMID: 24631284
- Gurha P, Wang T, Larimore AH, Sassi Y, Abreu-Goodger C, Ramirez MO, Reddy AK, Engelhardt S, Taffet GE, Wehrens XH, Entman ML, Rodriguez A "microRNA-22 promotes heart failure through coordinate suppression of PPAR/ERR-nuclear hormone receptor transcription." PLoS One. 2013; Pubmed PMID: 24086656
- Gurha P, Abreu-Goodger C, Wang T, Ramirez MO, Drumond AL, van Dongen S, Chen Y, Bartonicek N, Enright AJ, Lee B, Kelm RJ, Reddy AK, Taffet GE, Bradley A, Wehrens XH, Entman ML, Rodriguez A "Targeted deletion of microRNA-22 promotes stress-induced cardiac dilation and contractile dysfunction." Circulation. 2012 Jun 5; Pubmed PMID: 22570371
- Lu W, You R, Yuan X, Yang T, Samuel EL, Marcano DC, Sikkema WK, Tour JM, Rodriguez A, Kheradmand F, Corry DB "The microRNA miR-22 inhibits the histone deacetylase HDAC4 to promote T(H)17 cell-dependent emphysema." Nat Immunol. 2015 Nov; Pubmed PMID: 26437241
- Rodriguez A, Vigorito E, Clare S, Warren MV, Couttet P, Soond DR, van Dongen S, Grocock RJ, Das PP, Miska EA, Vetrie D, Okkenhaug K, Enright AJ, Dougan G, Turner M, Bradley A "Requirement of bic/microRNA-155 for normal immune function." Science. 2007 Apr 27; Pubmed PMID: 17463290
- Vigorito E, Perks KL, Abreu-Goodger C, Bunting S, Xiang Z, Kohlhaas S, Das PP, Miska EA, Rodriguez A, Bradley A, Smith KG, Rada C, Enright AJ, Toellner KM, Maclennan IC, Turner M "microRNA-155 regulates the generation of immunoglobulin class-switched plasma cells.." Immunity. 2007 Dec; Pubmed PMID: 18055230
- Kadmon CS, Landers CT, Li HS, Watowich SS, Rodriguez A, King KY "MicroRNA-22 controls interferon alpha production and erythroid maturation in response to infectious stress in mice." Exp Hematol. 2017 Sep 11; Pubmed PMID: 28911907
- Robinton DA, Chal J, Lummertz da Rocha E, Han A, Yermalovich AV, Oginuma M, Schlaeger TM, Sousa P, Rodriguez A, Urbach A, Pourquié O, Daley GQ "The Lin28/let-7 Pathway Regulates the Mammalian Caudal Body Axis Elongation Program." Dev Cell. 2019 Jan 17; Pubmed PMID: 30661985
- Rowe RG, Wang LD, Coma S, Han A, Mathieu R, Pearson DS, Ross S, Sousa P, Nguyen PT, Rodriguez A, Wagers AJ, Daley GQ "Developmental regulation of myeloerythroid progenitor function by the Lin28b-let-7-Hmga2 axis." J Exp Med. 2016 Jul 25; Pubmed PMID: 27401346
- Rodriguez A, Griffiths-Jones S, Ashurst JL, Bradley A "Identification of mammalian microRNA host genes and transcription units." Genome Research. 2004 Oct; Pubmed PMID: 15364901
- Long J, Badal SS, Wang Y, Chang BH, Rodriguez A, Danesh FR "MicroRNA-22 is a master regulator of bone morphogenetic protein-7/6 homeostasis in the kidney." J Biol Chem. 2013 Dec 20; Pubmed PMID: 24163368
Funding
- Mechanism and Function of let-7, a Novel Modulator of Emphysema - #1R01HL140398-01A1 (09/01/2018 - 08/31/2023) Grant funding from NIH (NHLBI)
- PI
- Role of let-7 as a Genetic Modifier of Alzheimer's Disease - #3R01HL140398-02S1 (09/19/2019 Grant funding from NIH (NIA)
- PI
- Molecular and Cellular Dissection of miRNAs in Controlling Allergic Airway Inflammation in Mice - #1 I01 BX004828-01A1 Grant funding from VA CSR&D Merit
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