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Kevin Legge, PhD

Professor of Pathology

Introduction

Dendritic cell immunobiology and pulmonary immunity.

Current Positions

  • Professor of Pathology
  • Vice Chair for Research
  • Professor of Microbiology and Immunology
  • Director, Department of Pathology Research Flow Cytometry Facility
  • Director, Immunology Graduate Program, Interdisciplinary Program in Immunology

Education

  • BS in Microbiology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee
  • PhD in Immunology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, Knoxville, Tennessee
  • Postdoctoral Fellow in Department of Microbiology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN
  • Postdoctoral Fellow in Beirne B. Carter Center for Immunology Research, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, VA

Graduate Program Affiliations

Center, Program and Institute Affiliations

Research Interests

  • Project 4: Chronic ethanol consumption and the immune response to pulmonary infections
  • Project 2: Mechanisms of IL-12 p40 dependent dendritic cell expression of FasL and the subsequent FasL+ DC mediated killing of newly activated influenza-specific CD8 T cells in the lymph nodes
  • Project 1: Respiratory dendritic cell migration and participation in the initiation and maintenance of the CD8 T cell response to influenza virus (and RSV) infections
  • Project 5: Local Innate immune cell (i.e. dendritic cells and NK cells) control of influenza virus infections (and infections with other respiratory pathogens) and regulation of pathogen-specific CD8 T cell responses
  • Project 3: Role of TRAIL in influenza-specific immunity

Selected Publications

  • Lopez CE, Zacharias ZR, Ross KA, Narasimhan B, Waldschmidt TJ, Legge KL. (2024) Polyanhydride nanovaccine against H3N2 influenza A virus generates mucosal resident and systemic immunity promoting protection. NPJ Vaccines. May 31; 9(1):96. DOI: 10.1038/s41541-024-00883-3. PMID: 38822003. PMCID: PMC11143372.
  • Areecheewakul S, Adamcakova-Dodd A, Zacharias ZR, Jing X, Meyerholz DK, Legge KL, Houtman JCD, O'Shaghnessy PT, Thorne PS, Salem AK. (2023) Immunomodulatory Effects of Subacute Inhalation Exposure to Copper Oxide Nanoparticles in House Dust Mite-Induced Asthma. ACS Nano. Aug 8; 17(15):14586-14603. DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.3c01668. PMID: 37463491. PMCID: PMC10416562.
  • Rogers KJ, Richards PT, Zacharias ZR, Stunz LL, Vijay R, Butler NS, Legge LL, Bishop GA, Maury W. (2023) CD40 Signaling in Mice Elicits a Broad Antiviral Response Early during Acute Infection with RNA Viruses. Viruses. Jun 12; 15(6):1353. DOI: 10.3390/v15061353. PMID: 37376652. PMCID: PMC10305536.
  • Lopez, C. E. & Legge, K. L. (2020). Influenza A Virus Vaccination: Immunity, Protection, and Recent Advances Toward A Universal Vaccine. Vaccines 8 (3). DOI: 10.3390/vaccines8030434. PMID: 32756443.
  • Zacharias, Z. R. & Legge, K. L. (2019). Chronic Ethanol Consumption Reduces Existing CD8 T Cell Memory and Is Associated with Lesions in Protection against Secondary Influenza A Virus Infections. Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950). DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.1900770. PMID: 31712384.
  • Hornick, E. E., Zacharias, Z. R. & Legge, K. L. (2019). Kinetics and Phenotype of the CD4 T Cell Response to Influenza Virus Infections. Frontiers in immunology 10 2351. DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2019.02351. PMID: 31632414. PMCID: PMC6783515.
  • Hornick, E. E., Dagvadorj, J., Zacharias, Z. R., Miller, A. M., Langlois, R. A., Chen, P., Legge, K. L., Bishop, G. A., Sutterwala, F. S. & Cassel, S. L. (2019). Dendritic cell NLRC4 regulates influenza A virus-specific CD4+ T cell responses through FasL expression. Journal of Clinical Investigation 129 (7) 2888-2897. DOI: 10.1172/JCI124937.
  • Zacharias, Z. R., Ross, K. A., Hornick, E. E., Goodman, J. T., Narasimhan, B., Waldschmidt, T. J. & Legge, K. L. (2018). Polyanhydride Nanovaccine Induces Robust Pulmonary B and T Cell Immunity and Confers Protection Against Homologous and Heterologous Influenza A Virus Infections. Frontiers in immunology 9 1953. DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.01953. PMID: 30233573. PMCID: PMC6127617.
  • Carlin, L. E., Hemann, E. A., Zacharias, Z. R., Heusel, J. W. & Legge, K. L. (2018). Natural Killer Cell Recruitment to the Lung During Influenza A Virus Infection Is Dependent on CXCR3, CCR5, and Virus Exposure Dose. Frontiers in immunology 9 781. DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.00781. PMID: 29719539. PMCID: PMC5913326.
  • Van Braeckel-Budimir, N., Martin, M. D., Hartwig, S. M., Legge, K. L., Badovinac, V. P. & Harty, J. T. (2017). Antigen Exposure History Defines CD8 T Cell Dynamics and Protection during Localized Pulmonary Infections. Frontiers in immunology 8 40. DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2017.00040. PMID: 28191007. PMCID: PMC5269565.