Faculty
Kathleen A. Hoag, Associate Professor
Ph.D., University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 1996
M.S., Texas Christian University, 1991
322 N. Kedzie Hall
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1031
Phone: (517) 353-7800, Ext. 4
Fax: (517) 432-2006
E-mail: hoagk@msu.edu
Awards:
2005 MSU Teacher-Scholar Award
Research Interests:
Nutritional immunology; role of vitamin A in immune system development, maintenance and function, especially in regards to antigen-specific immune responses. Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin derived from dietary b-carotene or preformed retinyl esters. Vitamin A is best known for its role in vision, composing a portion of the photon-detecting molecule, rhodopsin and dietary deficiency can lead to night blindness. However, it is also known that vitamin A deficiency compromises the immune response, particularly to infectious pathogens that target the lungs and gastrointestinal tract. Recent research in our laboratory focuses on the role of vitamin A in modulating myeloid dendritic cell (DC) proliferation and adhesion. We are studying the role of vitamin A in enhancing proliferation in response to granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, and the involvement of cyclin proteins in this regard. We are also working to understanding how vitamin A regulates DC adhesion to extracellular matrix. We have preliminary data demonstrating that vitamin A can increase production of matrix metalloproteinase enzymes and decrease production of their inhibitor proteins by myeloid DC, which both correlate with decreased adhesion of DC to extracellular matrix. However, DC adhesion to extracellular matrix also appears to be modulated by neutrophils, which in the presence of vitamin A, stimulate extracellular matrix degradation and lower DC adhesion.
Instructional Activities:
Teaching is focused in the Biomedical Laboratory Diagnostics Program. I am the instructor for MT 213, Applications of Clinical Laboratory Principles, and MT 434, Clinical Immunology and Serology. I also teach the parasitology course content for MT 450, Eukaryotic Pathogens. In addition, I have developed a 1-credit pass/fail seminar course for students in the College of Natural Science who are exploring the possibility of biomedical research careers. The course, MT 150, Preview of Biomedical Research, is taught every spring semester. In addition to instruction, I am interested in pedagogical review and research, and focus on the use of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in improving student critical thinking skills by increasing student engagement with course content. I pursue this interest as a member of the Problem-Based Learning Faculty Learning Community (PBL-FLC).
Recent Publications:
Hoag KA, and Lackey DA. 2007. "Inside Blood - RXR: No longer a stepchild." Blood 109: 855-856.
Frasier LL, and Hoag KA. 2007. "Differential Diagnosis of Wegener’s Granulomatosis from Other Small Vessel Vasculitides." LabMedicine 38:437-439.
Hoag KA, Lillie JK and Hoppe R. "Piloting Case-based Instruction in a Didactic Clinical Immunology Course." Clin. Lab. Sci. 18:213-220, 2005.
Hengesbach LM and Hoag KA. " Physiological Concentrations of Retinoic Acid Favor Myeloid Dendritic Cell Development over Granulocyte Development in Cultures of Bone Marrow Cells from Mice." J. Nutr. 134:2653-2659, 2004.
Hoag KA, Nashold FE, Goverman J and Hayes CE. " Retinoic Acid Enhances T Helper 2 Cell Development that is Essential for Robust Antibody Responses Through its Action on Antigen-Presenting Cells." J. Nutr. 132:3736-3739, 2002.
*Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to read PDF documents.
