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Personal History
I grew up in London and got my PhD in Genetics and Microbiology from the University of Leicester in the UK. I had postdoctoral positions with Fred Sparling at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and with Rino Rappuoli at Sclavo Research Center (now Novartis Vaccines) in Siena, Italy. I started my faculty position here at the University of Maryland Medical School in 1991. In 2010 I chaired the organizing committee and hosted the 9th International Bordetella Symposium here in Baltimore. I am married to Tracy Irish and we have three children (Julia, Christopher and Michael).
Research Interests
The general interest in my laboratory includes (i) molecular and cellular mechanisms of bacterial pathogenicity, (ii) immune and inflammatory responses to bacterial infection, and (iii) cell biology of bacterial toxins. Specifically, we are studying the role of virulence factors in infection and disease caused by the bacterial pathogen Bordetella pertussis, the cause of the disease whooping cough or pertussis. We are using a mouse model of respiratory tract infection to study this host-pathogen interaction, and we are particularly interested in the role played by the secreted virulence factor pertussis toxin and its modulatory effects on the host immune response. We are also studying the retrograde transport in mammalian cells of pertussis toxin, and the intracellular trafficking pathway that this toxin utilizes to arrive at and modify its target G proteins, disrupting cell signaling events and causing toxicity. We are using various cell biology approaches to dissect this pathway and learn about the intracellular events that lead to pertussis toxin activity.
Publications
Connelly, C, Sun, Y, and Carbonetti, NH (2012) Pertussis toxin exacerbates and prolongs airway inflammatory responses during Bordetella pertussis infection. Infection & Immunity 80:4317-4332
Worthington, ZEV, van Rooijen, N, and Carbonetti, NH (2011) Enhancement of Bordetella parapertussis infection by Bordetella pertussis in mixed infection of the respiratory tract. FEMS Immunology and Medical Microbiology 63:119-128
Ayala, VI, Teijaro, JR, Farber, DL, Dorsey, SG, and Carbonetti, NH (2011) Bordetella pertussis infection exacerbates influenza virus infection through pertussis toxin-mediated suppression of innate immunity. PLoS ONE 6(4): e19016
Carbonetti, NH (2010) Pertussis toxin and adenylate cyclase toxin: key virulence factors of Bordetella pertussis and cell biology tools. Future Microbiology 5:455-469.
Andreasen, C, and Carbonetti, NH (2009) The role of neutrophils in response to Bordetella pertussis infection in mice. Infection & Immunity 77: 1182-1188
Andreasen, C, Powell, DA, and Carbonetti, NH (2009) Pertussis toxin stimulates IL-17 production in response to Bordetella pertussis infection in mice. PLoSONE 4(9): e7079
Plaut, RD, and Carbonetti, NH (2008) Retrograde trafficking of pertussis toxin in mammalian cells. Cellular Microbiology 10:1130-1139
Andreasen, C, and Carbonetti, NH (2008) Pertussis toxin inhibits early chemokine production to delay neutrophil recruitment in response to Bordetella pertussis respiratory tract infection in mice. Infection & Immunity 76:5139-5148
Carbonetti, NH (2007) Immunomodulation in the pathogenesis of Bordetella pertussis infection and disease. Current Opinion in Pharmacology 7:272-278
Worthington, ZEV, and Carbonetti, NH (2007) Evading the Proteasome: Absence of lysine residues contributes to pertussis toxin activity by evasion of proteasome degradation. Infection & Immunity 75:2946-2953
Carbonetti, NH, Artamonova, GV, van Rooijen, N, and Ayala, VI (2007) Pertussis toxin targets airway macrophages to promote Bordetella pertussis infection of the respiratory tract. Infection & Immunity 75:1713-1720
Carbonetti, NH, Mays, RM, Artamonova, GV, Plaut, RD and Worthington, ZEV (2005) Proteolytic cleavage of pertussis toxin S1 subunit is not essential for its activity in mammalian cells. BMC Microbiology 5:7
Carbonetti, NH, Artamonova, GV, Andreasen, C, and Bushar, N (2005) Pertussis toxin and adenylate cyclase toxin provide a one-two punch for establishment of Bordetella pertussis infection of the respiratory tract. Infection & Immunity 73:2698-2703
Carbonetti, NH, Artamonova, G, Andreasen, C, Dudley, E, Mays, RM, and Worthington, ZEV (2004) Suppression of serum antibody responses by pertussis toxin after respiratory tract colonization by Bordetella pertussis and identification of an immunodominant lipoprotein. Infection & Immunity 72:3350-3358
Carbonetti, NH, Artamonova, G, Mays, RM, and Worthington, ZEV (2003) Pertussis toxin plays an early role in respiratory tract colonization by Bordetella pertussis. Infection & Immunity 71:6358-6366