Michael Shiloh, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor

Tuberculosis is a global epidemic that annually accounts for approximately 2 million deaths worldwide. Because of the capacity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) to establish a latent infection, an estimated 1-2 billion people worldwide are infected with Mtb. Because of this, my long-term goal is to discover the mechansims by which Mtb causes disease in humans.  My laboratory is taking an integrated approach, using powerful new molecular genetic, cell biologic, bioinformatic and metabolomic tools to test novel hypotheses and challenge existing paradigms. Our ultimate aim is to use this knowledge to develop new vaccines and treatments for Mtb.

Three key phases in a pathogen’s life cycle dictate its ability to cause disease, namely, i) invasion ii) survival and propagation and iii) escape beyond the host to infect naïve individuals. To date, how Mtb crosses the mucosa and enters the human body is incompletely understood. Likewise, the full repertoire of mechanisms used by Mtb to manipulate and persist within host macrophages is unknown. Additionally, our knowledge of macrophage antimicrobial mechanisms in host defense against Mtb and other pathogens remains incomplete. Enhancing such antimicrobial mechanisms via host-directed therapies is a promising new approach to Mtb treatment. Finally, how Mtb facilitates its own transmission through cough induction has not been studied. Thus, we are addressing these areas of Mtb biology through a series of hypothesis-driven approaches. First, how does Mtb penetrate the nasopharyngeal and respiratory mucosa to cause disease? Second, what are the mechanisms Mtb uses to manipulate host processes to facilitate survival? Third, can host antimicrobial pathways be leveraged to enhance the eradication of intracellular bacteria such as Mtb? Finally, how does Mtb trigger coughing to mediate its spread?

Medical School

Cornell University Medical College (2001)

Residency

University of California, San Francisco (2003), Internal Medicine

Fellowship

University of California at San Francisco (2007), Infectious Diseases

• Autophagy
• Innate immune response to intracellular pathogens
• Microbial pathogenesis
• Mucosal immunology
• Mycobacterium tuberculosis
• Neuroimmunology
• Role of carbon monoxide (CO) in host-pathogen interactions

Featured Publications

Identification of scavenger receptor B1 as the airway microfold cell receptor for Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Khan HS, Nair VR, Ruhl CR, Alvarez-Arguedas S, Galvan Rendiz JL, Franco LH, Huang L, Shaul PW, Kim J, Xie Y, Mitchell RB, Shiloh MU, Elife 2020 Mar 9

Mycobacterium tuberculosis Sulfolipid-1 Activates Nociceptive Neurons and Induces Cough.

Ruhl CR, Pasko BL, Khan HS, Kindt LM, Stamm CE, Franco LH, Hsia CC, Zhou M, Davis CR, Qin T, Gautron L, Burton MD, Mejia GL, Naik DK, Dussor G, Price TJ, Shiloh MU, Cell 2020 Mar

Screening Mycobacterium tuberculosis Secreted Proteins Identifies Mpt64 as a Eukaryotic Membrane-Binding Bacterial Effector.

Stamm CE, Pasko BL, Chaisavaneeyakorn S, Franco LH, Nair VR, Weigele BA, Alto NM, Shiloh MU, mSphere 2019 Jun 4 3

Mechanisms of mycobacterial transmission: how does Mycobacterium tuberculosis enter and escape from the human host.

Shiloh MU Future Microbiol 2016 Dec 11 1503-1506

The Ubiquitin Ligase Smurf1 Functions in Selective Autophagy of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Anti-tuberculous Host Defense.

Franco LH, Nair VR, Scharn CR, Xavier RJ, Torrealba JR, Shiloh MU, Levine B Cell Host Microbe 2016 Dec

Microfold Cells Actively Translocate Mycobacterium tuberculosis to Initiate Infection.

Nair VR, Franco LH, Zacharia VM, Khan HS, Stamm CE, You W, Marciano DK, Yagita H, Levine B, Shiloh MU Cell Rep 2016 Jul

Cyclic GMP-AMP Synthase Is an Innate Immune DNA Sensor for Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Collins AC, Cai H, Li T, Franco LH, Li XD, Nair VR, Scharn CR, Stamm CE, Levine B, Chen ZJ, Shiloh MU Cell Host Microbe 2015 Jun

Bag it, tag it: ubiquitin ligases and host resistance to Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Campos PC, Cunha DT, Souza-Costa LP, Shiloh MU, Franco LH, Trends Microbiol 2022 Apr

A baculovirus-conjugated mimotope vaccine targeting Mycobacterium tuberculosis lipoarabinomannan.

Shin HJ, Franco LH, Nair VR, Collins AC, Shiloh MU PLoS ONE 2017 12 10 e0185945

Heme Oxygenase-1 Regulates Inflammation and Mycobacterial Survival in Human Macrophages during Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection.

Scharn CR, Collins AC, Nair VR, Stamm CE, Marciano DK, Graviss EA, Shiloh MU J. Immunol. 2016 Jun 196 11 4641-9

• American Society of Clinical Investigation
  Member (2021)
• Burroughs Wellcome Fund Investigator in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Diseases
  (2018-2023)
• The Department of Internal Medicine Chair’s Pilot Awards
  A Synthetic Lethal Genetic Interaction Map in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (2015-2017)
• UTSW High Impact/High Risk Award
  Research award for development of a novel M. tuberculosis vaccine (2012)
• Disease Oriented Clinical Scholar, UTSW
  (2011)
• NIH/NIAID K08 award
  2008-2012 (2008)
• Sandler Family Foundation Discovery Award
  Research award for highly innovative research (2006)
• Giannini Family Foundation Research Fellowship, 2005-2008
  Honors research fellows in the state of California (2005)

• American Association of Immunologists (2014)
• American Society of Microbiology (2013)
• Infectious Disease Society of America (2010)