Our Recent Publications

Figure 1. C. rodentium colonizes the murine colonic mucosa. GFP-producing bacteria are localized on the epithelium, for which the nuclei are stained blue with DAPI and filamentous actin is stained red with phalloidin.

The following is an abbreviated list of publications from Dr. John M. Leong and the Leong Lab at Tufts University. For older publications, please visit PubMed.

  1. Xu, S, Zhu, T, Mou, H, Tan, S, Leong, JM. Weakened Airway Epithelial Junctions and Enhanced Neutrophil Elastase Release Contribute to Age-Dependent Bacteremia Risk Following Pneumococcal Pneumonia. Aging Cell. 2025; :e14474. doi: 10.1111/acel.14474. PubMed PMID:39778043 .
  2. Srivastava, R, González-Prieto, C, Lynch, JP, Muscolo, ME, Lin, CY, Brown, MA et al.. In situ deposition of nanobodies by an engineered commensal microbe promotes survival in a mouse model of enterohemorrhagic E. coli. PNAS Nexus. 2024;3 (9):pgae374. doi: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae374. PubMed PMID:39262854 PubMed Central PMC11388102.
  3. Srivastava, R, González-Prieto, C, Lynch, JP, Muscolo, M, Lin, CY, Brown, MA et al.. In situ deposition of nanobodies by an engineered commensal microbe promotes survival in a mouse model of enterohemorrhagic E. coli. bioRxiv. 2024; :. doi: 10.1101/2024.07.30.605899. PubMed PMID:39131305 PubMed Central PMC11312530.
  4. Xu, S, Tan, S, Romanos, P, Reedy, JL, Zhang, Y, Mansour, MK et al.. Blocking HXA3-mediated neutrophil elastase release during S. pneumoniae lung infection limits pulmonary epithelial barrier disruption and bacteremia. mBio. 2024;15 (9):e0185624. doi: 10.1128/mbio.01856-24. PubMed PMID:39120139 PubMed Central PMC11389395.
  5. Xu, S, Tan, S, Romanos, P, Reedy, JL, Zhang, Y, Mansour, MK et al.. Blocking HXA3-mediated neutrophil elastase release during S. pneumoniae lung infection limits pulmonary epithelial barrier disruption and bacteremia. bioRxiv. 2024; :. doi: 10.1101/2024.06.25.600637. PubMed PMID:38979170 PubMed Central PMC11230237.
  6. Thomas, S, Schulz, AM, Leong, JM, Zeczycki, TN, Garcia, BL. The molecular determinants of classical pathway complement inhibition by OspEF-related proteins of Borrelia burgdorferi. J Biol Chem. 2024;300 (5):107236. doi: 10.1016/j.jbc.2024.107236. PubMed PMID:38552741 PubMed Central PMC11066524.
  7. Lewis, ED, Ortega, EF, Dao, MC, Barger, K, Mason, JB, Leong, JM et al.. Corrigendum: Safe and effective delivery of supplemental iron to healthy adults: a two-phase, randomized, double-blind trial - the safe iron study. Front Nutr. 2024;11 :1376599. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1376599. PubMed PMID:38476600 PubMed Central PMC10927985.
  8. Lewis, ED, Ortega, EF, Dao, MC, Barger, K, Mason, JB, Leong, JM et al.. Safe and effective delivery of supplemental iron to healthy adults: a two-phase, randomized, double-blind trial - the safe iron study. Front Nutr. 2023;10 :1230061. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1230061. PubMed PMID:37899826 PubMed Central PMC10603204.
  9. Lemieux, JE, Huang, W, Hill, N, Cerar, T, Freimark, L, Hernandez, S et al.. Whole genome sequencing of human Borrelia burgdorferi isolates reveals linked blocks of accessory genome elements located on plasmids and associated with human dissemination. PLoS Pathog. 2023;19 (8):e1011243. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1011243. PubMed PMID:37651316 PubMed Central PMC10470944.
  10. Xu, S, Mo, D, Rizvi, FZ, Rosa, JP, Ruiz, J, Tan, S et al.. Pore-forming activity of S. pneumoniae pneumolysin disrupts the paracellular localization of the epithelial adherens junction protein E-cadherin. Infect Immun. 2023;91 (9):e0021323. doi: 10.1128/iai.00213-23. PubMed PMID:37607057 PubMed Central PMC10501216.
  11. Lynch, JP, González-Prieto, C, Reeves, AZ, Bae, S, Powale, U, Godbole, NP et al.. Engineered Escherichia coli for the in situ secretion of therapeutic nanobodies in the gut. Cell Host Microbe. 2023;31 (4):634-649.e8. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2023.03.007. PubMed PMID:37003258 PubMed Central PMC10101937.
  12. Lemieux, JE, Huang, W, Hill, N, Cerar, T, Freimark, L, Hernandez, S et al.. Whole genome sequencing of Borrelia burgdorferi isolates reveals linked clusters of plasmid-borne accessory genome elements associated with virulence. bioRxiv. 2023; :. doi: 10.1101/2023.02.26.530159. PubMed PMID:36909473 PubMed Central PMC10002713.
  13. Lenhard, A, Joma, BH, Siwapornchai, N, Hakansson, AP, Leong, JM, Bou Ghanem, EN et al.. A Mouse Model for the Transition of Streptococcus pneumoniae from Colonizer to Pathogen upon Viral Co-Infection Recapitulates Age-Exacerbated Illness. J Vis Exp. 2022; (187):. doi: 10.3791/64419. PubMed PMID:36279528 PubMed Central PMC11151369.
  14. Garrigues, RJ, Thomas, S, Leong, JM, Garcia, BL. Outer surface lipoproteins from the Lyme disease spirochete exploit the molecular switch mechanism of the complement protease C1s. J Biol Chem. 2022;298 (11):102557. doi: 10.1016/j.jbc.2022.102557. PubMed PMID:36183830 PubMed Central PMC9637899.
  15. Gelfat, I, Aqeel, Y, Tremblay, JM, Jaskiewicz, JJ, Shrestha, A, Lee, JN et al.. Single domain antibodies against enteric pathogen virulence factors are active as curli fiber fusions on probiotic E. coli Nissle 1917. PLoS Pathog. 2022;18 (9):e1010713. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1010713. PubMed PMID:36107831 PubMed Central PMC9477280.
  16. Tan, X, Lin, YP, Pereira, MJ, Castellanos, M, Hahn, BL, Anderson, P et al.. VlsE, the nexus for antigenic variation of the Lyme disease spirochete, also mediates early bacterial attachment to the host microvasculature under shear force. PLoS Pathog. 2022;18 (5):e1010511. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1010511. PubMed PMID:35605029 PubMed Central PMC9166660.
  17. Pereira, JM, Xu, S, Leong, JM, Sousa, S. The Yin and Yang of Pneumolysin During Pneumococcal Infection. Front Immunol. 2022;13 :878244. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.878244. PubMed PMID:35529870 PubMed Central PMC9074694.
  18. Pereira, MJ, Wager, B, Garrigues, RJ, Gerlach, E, Quinn, JD, Dowdell, AS et al.. Lipoproteome screening of the Lyme disease agent identifies inhibitors of antibody-mediated complement killing. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2022;119 (13):e2117770119. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2117770119. PubMed PMID:35312359 PubMed Central PMC9060444.
  19. Thorpe, CM, Pulsifer, AR, Osburne, MS, Vanaja, SK, Leong, JM. Citrobacter rodentium(ϕStx2dact), a murine infection model for enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli. Curr Opin Microbiol. 2022;65 :183-190. doi: 10.1016/j.mib.2021.11.013. PubMed PMID:34929548 PubMed Central PMC9069446.
  20. Hogan, DA, Heitman, J, Jabra-Rizk, MA, Knoll, LJ, Leong, JM, Silverman, N et al.. Editorial overview of Pearls Microbiome Series: E pluribus unum. PLoS Pathog. 2021;17 (8):e1009912. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1009912. PubMed PMID:34464427 PubMed Central PMC8407538.
  21. Koeppel, MB, Glaser, J, Baumgartner, T, Spriewald, S, Gerlach, RG, von Armansperg, B et al.. Scalable Reporter Assays to Analyze the Regulation of stx2 Expression in Shiga Toxin-Producing Enteropathogens. Toxins (Basel). 2021;13 (8):. doi: 10.3390/toxins13080534. PubMed PMID:34437405 PubMed Central PMC8402550.
  22. Nguyen, GT, Xu, S, Adams, W, Leong, JM, Bunnell, SC, Mansour, MK et al.. Neutrophils require SKAP2 for reactive oxygen species production following C-type lectin and Candida stimulation. iScience. 2021;24 (8):102871. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102871. PubMed PMID:34386732 PubMed Central PMC8346660.
  23. Sundaresh, B, Xu, S, Noonan, B, Mansour, MK, Leong, JM, van Opijnen, T et al.. Host-informed therapies for the treatment of pneumococcal pneumonia. Trends Mol Med. 2021;27 (10):971-989. doi: 10.1016/j.molmed.2021.07.008. PubMed PMID:34376327 .
  24. Joma, BH, Siwapornchai, N, Vanguri, VK, Shrestha, A, Roggensack, SE, Davidson, BA et al.. A Murine Model for Enhancement of Streptococcus pneumoniae Pathogenicity upon Viral Infection and Advanced Age. Infect Immun. 2021;89 (8):e0047120. doi: 10.1128/IAI.00471-20. PubMed PMID:34031128 PubMed Central PMC8281274.
  25. Flowers, LJ, Hu, S, Shrestha, A, Martinot, AJ, Leong, JM, Osburne, MS et al.. Citrobacter rodentium Lysogenized with a Shiga Toxin-Producing Phage: A Murine Model for Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli Infection. Methods Mol Biol. 2021;2291 :381-397. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1339-9_19. PubMed PMID:33704765 .
  26. Lewis, ED, Wu, D, Mason, JB, Chishti, AH, Leong, JM, Barger, K et al.. Safe and effective delivery of supplemental iron to healthy older adults: The double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial protocol of the Safe Iron Study. Gates Open Res. 2019;3 :1510. doi: 10.12688/gatesopenres.13039.2. PubMed PMID:33655197 PubMed Central PMC7890045.
  27. Inomata, M, Xu, S, Chandra, P, Meydani, SN, Takemura, G, Philips, JA et al.. Macrophage LC3-associated phagocytosis is an immune defense against Streptococcus pneumoniae that diminishes with host aging. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020;117 (52):33561-33569. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2015368117. PubMed PMID:33376222 PubMed Central PMC7776987.
  28. Lin, YP, Tan, X, Caine, JA, Castellanos, M, Chaconas, G, Coburn, J et al.. Strain-specific joint invasion and colonization by Lyme disease spirochetes is promoted by outer surface protein C. PLoS Pathog. 2020;16 (5):e1008516. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1008516. PubMed PMID:32413091 PubMed Central PMC7255614.
  29. Siwapornchai, N, Lee, JN, Tchalla, EYI, Bhalla, M, Yeoh, JH, Roggensack, SE et al.. Extracellular adenosine enhances the ability of PMNs to kill Streptococcus pneumoniae by inhibiting IL-10 production. J Leukoc Biol. 2020;108 (3):867-882. doi: 10.1002/JLB.4MA0120-115RR. PubMed PMID:32017200 PubMed Central PMC8314384.
  30. Adams, W, Bhowmick, R, Bou Ghanem, EN, Wade, K, Shchepetov, M, Weiser, JN et al.. Pneumolysin Induces 12-Lipoxygenase-Dependent Neutrophil Migration during Streptococcus pneumoniae Infection. J Immunol. 2020;204 (1):101-111. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1800748. PubMed PMID:31776202 PubMed Central PMC7195902.
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