Name: Kim A. Brogden
Title: Director, Dows Institute for Dental Research
Focus Area: Research
Email: kim-brogden@uiowa.edu
Office Number: 319-335-8077
Campus Address: N423 DSB

Dr. Brogden's research focuses on the ability of peptides in saliva (defensins, histatins, etc.) to serve as downstream suppressors of cytokine signaling to recombinant hemagglutinin B (HagB) from the periodontal pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis. In his work, they have found that human β defensin 3 (HBD3) has the capacity to influence the chemokine and cytokine responses of human dendritic cells: the timing of HBD3 exposure and the concentration of HBD3 treaatment of dendritic cells were both important in the onset, magnitude, and composition of the dendritic cell response to HagB. The mechanism may involve binding of HBD3 to HagB: HBD3 binds to immobilized HagB via surface plasmon spectroscopy and via ELISA and HBD3 inhibits binding of rHagB via surface plasmon spectroscopy and via ELISA and HBD3 inhibits binding of rHagB to cells via confocal microscopy and immunoelectron microscopy. Future research will determine the extent to which defensins can suppress early events in inflammation, an exciting concept that could be exploited to develop therapeutics to prevent or treat a variety of oral mucosal infections, particularly where inflammation plays a role in the pathogenesis of disease and its long-term sequelae.