Teodor Brumeanu MD

Biography

Throughout my career I have been strongly committed to basic and clinical research with an emphasis on translational vaccine projects and therapeutic prototypes for type 1 diabetes and influenza. Lately, I have focused my efforts on setting up a novel murine model expressing a fully functional human immune system (HIS), which we recently confirmed as the first HIS-humanized mouse model for infection with influenza type A heterosubtypes. Using this established humanized mouse model (HIS-DRAGA), we plan to study the immune physiognomics, immunopathological effects, and regulatory mechanisms of human lung-resident CD8 T cells during infection with common influenza heterotypes, using approaches that are unattainable in humans. My longtime collaborator, Dr. S. Casares, and I have designed and generated several new strains of HIS-humanized mice to establish pre-clinical models to study other infections such as malaria, HIV, Scrub typhus, and ZIKA. These models are providing fundamental insights into the human response to these infections.

Representative Bibliography

Brumeanu, T-D., Vir, P., Karim, AF., Swagata, Kar., Benetiene, D., Lok, M., Greenhouse, J., Putmon-Taylor, T., Kitajewski, C., Chung, KK. et al. Human-Immune-System (HIS) humanized mouse model (DRAGA: HLA-A2.HLA-DR4.Rag1KO.IL-2RcKO.NOD) for COVID-19. Human Vaccines Immunother. 1-17. DOI: 10.1080/21645515.2022.2048622. (2022).

Mirian Mendoza1, Devi Gunasekera1, Kathleen Pratt1, Sofia Casares1,2 & Teodor-D. Brumeanu1*. The humanized DRAGA mouse (HLA-A2. HLA-DR4. RAG1 KO. IL-2Rc KO. NOD) establishes inducible and transmissible models for influenza type A infections. Human Vaccines Immunother. 6: 2222-2237. doi: 10.1080/21645515.2020.1713605. (2020).

Mirian Mendoza, Angela Ballesteros, Qiu Qi , Luis Pow Sang, Soumya Shashikumar, Sofia Casares, and Teodor-D. Brumeanu. Generation and testing anti-influenza human monoclonal antibodies in a new humanized mouse model (DRAGA: NOD/Rag1 KO/IL-2Rgc KO/HLA-DR-0401+/HLA-A2.1+ ). Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics, 14(2): 345-360. doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2017.1403703. (2018).

Mendoza M, Pow Sang L, Qiu Q, Casares S, Brumeanu TD. Nonobese Diabetic (NOD) Mice Lack a Protective B-Cell Response against the "Nonlethal" Plasmodium yoelii 17XNL Malaria Protozoan. Malar Res Treat. 2016;2016:6132734. doi: 10.1155/2016/6132734. Dec 15. PMID:28074170 (2016)

Luis Pow Sanga, Jacqueline Surlsa, Mendoza Miriana, Sofia Casaresa,b , and Teodor-D. Brumeanua,*. HLA-DR*0401 expression in the NOD mice prevents the development of autoimmune diabetes by multiple alterations in the T-cell compartment. Cell Immunology 2015. 298, 54-65.

Luis Pow Sang, Sai Majji, Sofia Casares, and Teodor-D. Brumeanu. Long-term silencing of autoimmune diabetes and improved life expectancy by a soluble pHLA-DR4 chimera in a newly-humanized NOD/DR4/B7 mouse. Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics, 10:3, 1-7 (2014)

. Jacqueline Surls, Cristina Nazarov-Stoica, Margaret Kehl, Sofia Casares, and Teodor D. Brumeanu. Increased membrane cholesterol in lymphocytes diverts T-cells toward an inflammatory response. Plos ONE, 7: e38733 (2012)

Rebecca Danner1, Snehal N. Chaudhari1, John Rosenberger1, Jacqueline Surls2, Thomas L. Richie1, Teodor-Doru Brumeanu2, and Sofia Casares1,2 Expression of HLA class II molecules in humanized NOD.Rag1KO.IL2RgcKO mice is critical for development and function of human T and B cells (Plos ONE Immunol, 6(5) e19826 (2011)

Jacqueline Surls1, Cristina Nazarov-Stoica1, Margaret Kehl1, Sofia Casares2, and Teodor-D. Brumeanu1* Differential effect of CD4+Foxp3+ T-regulatory cells on the B and T helper cell responses to influenza virus vaccination., VACCINE, 28: 7319-30 (2010)

Sofia Casares, Alicia Hurtad, Harald von Boehmer, Adelaide Sarukhan, Robert McEvoy, and Teodor-D. Brumeanu. Downregulation of diabetogenic T-cells by a soluble MHC II-peptide chimera. Nature Immunology 3 (4): 383-391 (2002)