B. Barnett, Professor and Chair of Microbiology and Immunology

[Guest guest]

http://www.hsc.wvu.edu/micro/faculty/barnett.htm

JOHN B. BARNETT

Professor and Chair of Microbiology and Immunology

Ph.D., University of Louisville, 1973

(304) 293-1649

jbarnett@...

The work in our laboratory focuses on the consequences to the immune system

of exposure to xenobiotic compounds. It is our goal to utilize their known

immunomodulatory effects to assist in understanding the basic biology of the

immune cells. Three projects are currently in progress in our laboratory: a

prenatal exposure model involving an insecticide, chlordane; an adult

exposure model studying the effects of the herbicide, propanil; are an adult

exposure model involving isobutyl nitrate, an abused substance. Prenatal

exposure to chlordane results in a reduction of macrophage activity and

decreased level of myeloid stem cell functionality. Because of the apparent

permanence and subtlety of the chlordane-induced immunotoxicity, it is

critical to determine the mechanism(s) of these effects. It is our

hypothesis that prenatal chlordane exposure affects the normal ontogeny of

the myeloid monocyte cell lineage. Thus, this project focuses on the

consequences of prenatal exposure to chlordane on the macrophages by

examining the molecular events involved in macrophage activation and

cytokine production, and myeloid cell maturation events.

Our second project studies the effects of propanil, a post-emergent

herbicide, on the immune response of adult mice. Propanil causes

modifications to T cell and macrophage cytokine production. Therefore, we

are studying the effects of propanil on cytokine production at the molecular

level to increase our understanding of T-cell macrophage activation events.

Isobutyl nitrate is a volatile chemical abused by inhalation and our data

indicates that inhalation of isobutyl nitrate results in a transient

immunodeficiency. Nitrate abuse is suggested as a cofactor in the spread of

acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and the development of Kaposi's

sarcoma associated with AIDS patients.

Soderberg, L.S.F. and J. B. Barnett. 1993. Inhaled isobutyl nitrite

compromises T-dependent, but not T-independent antibody induction. Int J

Immunopharmacol. 15:821-7.

Blyler, G., K. Landreth, T. Lillis, R. Schafer, S.A. Theus, J. Gandy and

Barnett, J.B. 1994. Selective myelotoxicity of propanil. Fund Applied

Toxicol 22:505-510.

Blyler, G., K.S. Landreth and J.B. Barnett. 1994. Gender specific effects of

prenatal chlordane exposure on myeloid cell development. Fund Applied

Toxicol, 23:188-193.

Soderberg, L.S.F., J.T. Flick and J.B. Barnett. 1996. Leukopenia and altered

hematopoietic activity in mice exposed to the abuse inhalant, isobutyl

nitrite. Experimental Hematology, 24:848-853.

Cuff, C.F., W. Zhao, T. Nukui, R. Schafer, and J.B. Barnett. 1996.

3,4-Dichloro-propionanilide-induced atrophy of the thymus: Mechanism of

toxicity and recovery. Fund. Applied Toxicol. 33:83-90.

Soderberg, L.S.F., L.W. Chang, and J.B. Barnett. 1996. Elevated tumor

necrosis factor-? and inducible nitric oxide production by alveolar

macrophages after exposure to a nitrite inhalant. J. Leukocyte Biol. 60:459-

Cuff, C.F., W. Zhao, T. Nukui, R. Schafer, and J.B. Barnett. 1996.

3,4-Dichloro-propionanilide-induced atrophy of the thymus: Mechanism of

toxicity and recovery. Fund. Applied Toxicol. 33:83-90.

Xie. Y.C., R. Schafer and J.B. Barnett. 1997. The inhibitory effect of

3,4-dichloropropananiline on cytokine production by macrophages is

associated with LPS-mediated signal transduction. J. Leuk. Biol. 61:745-752

Xie. Y.C., R. Schafer and J.B. Barnett. 1997. The immunomodulatory effects

of the herbicide, propanil, on murine macrophage interleukin-6 and tumor

necrosis factor-[alpha] production. Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol. 145:184-191.