Biography
Daniel received his B.A. (Mod) and PhD in Immunology from Trinity College Dublin, studying molecular mediators of inflammatory bowel disease and bacterial infection. Upon completion of this work, he moved to the University of Oxford to carry out postdoctoral research in host-microbe interactions and macrophage function at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology where he held the Bryan Warren Junior Research Fellowship at Linacre College Oxford. He then returned to Ireland to take up an AbbVie Newman Fellowship in the Charles Institute of Dermatology. Here he investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying inflammatory skin disease. During this time, he became a Fulbright Scholar and worked at Harvard University employing novel single cell methodologies in his dermatological research. In 2022, he returned to the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute upon his faculty appointment as Assistant Professor in the Discipline of Anatomy, School of Medicine, TCD.
Publications and Further Research Outputs
Peer-Reviewed Publications
O'Donohoe, S and Leahy, C and Johnston, DGW and Tobin, DJ, ANALYSIS OF INFLAMMASOME PROTEIN EXPRESSION IN HIDRADENITIS SUPPURATIVA PATIENT TISSUE, IRISH JOURNAL OF MEDICAL SCIENCE, 191, (SUPPL 1), 2022, ppS13--S14
Buruno, H and Johnston, D and Tobin, D, Can the collapse of the human scalp hair follicle pigmentary unit with age (canities) provide insight into how melanocyte death could be induced in melanoma?, BRITISH JOURNAL OF DERMATOLOGY, 187, (1), 2022, ppE37--E37
Johnston, Daniel G. W., Hambly, Roisin, Kearney, Niamh, Tobin, Desmond J., Kirby, Brian, Cell"free
Johnston, DGW and Hambly, R and Kearney, N and Tobin, DJ and Kirby, B, A preliminary study of soluble CD14 levels in the serum of patients with hidradenitis suppurativa as a marker of ?leaky gut? [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review], HRB Open Research, 5, (68), 2022
Buruno, H and Johnston, D and Tobin, DJ, CAN THE COLLAPSE OF THE SCALP HAIR FOLLICLE PIGMENTARY UNIT WITH AGE (CANITIES) PROVIDE INSIGHTS INTO HOW MELANOCYTE DEATH COULD BE INDUCED IN MELANOMA?, IRISH JOURNAL OF MEDICAL SCIENCE, 190, (SUPPL 4), 2021, ppS121--S122
Immunotherapy Advances, Oxford University Press, [eds.], 2021-2027
Daniel G.W. Johnston, Brian Kirby, Desmond J. Tobin, Hidradenitis suppurativa: A folliculotropic disease of innate immune barrier dysfunction?, Experimental Dermatology, 2021
Hackett, E.E., Charles-Messance, H., O'Leary, S.M., Gleeson, L.E., Muñoz-Wolf, N., Case, S., Wedderburn, A., Johnston, D.G.W., Williams, M.A., Smyth, A., Ouimet, M., Moore, K.J., Lavelle, E.C., Corr, S.C., Gordon, S.V., Keane, J., Sheedy, F.J., Mycobacterium tuberculosis Limits Host Glycolysis and IL-1ß by Restriction of PFK-M via MicroRNA-21, Cell Reports, 30, (1), 2020, p124-136.e4
Daniel Johnston, Alfred I. Tauber, Immunity: The Evolution of an Idea (New York: Oxford University Press, 2017), 328 pages. ISBN: 9780190651244. Hardcover: $78.00, Paperback $39.95., Politics and the Life Sciences, 38, (1), 2019, p103--105
Schulthess J, Pandey S, Capitani M, Rue-Albrecht KC, Arnold I, Franchini F, Chomka A, Ilott NE, Johnston DGW, Pires E, McCullagh J, Sansom SN, Powrie F, The Short Chain Fatty Acid Butyrate Imprints an Antimicrobial Program in Macrophages., Immunity, 2019
Daniel G.W. Johnston, Christoph A. Thaiss, Raul Cabrera-Rubio, Michelle A. Williams, Paul D. Cotter, Eran Elinav, Luke A.J. O'Neill, Sinéad C. Corr, Loss of microRNA-21 influences the gut microbiota causing reduced susceptibility in a murine model of colitis., Journal of Crohns and Colitis, 12, (7), 2018, p835-
Daniel GW Johnston, A role for microRNA-21 in gastrointestinal health and disease, Trinity College Dublin, 2017
Johnston DGW, Kearney J, ZasÅ'ona Z, Williams MA, O'Neill LAJ, Corr SC., MicroRNA-21 Limits Uptake of Listeria monocytogenes by Macrophages to Reduce the Intracellular Niche and Control Infection., Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology, 7, 2017, p201
Daniel Johnston, A role for microRNA-21 in the regulation of gastrointestinal health and disease, Trinity College Dublin, 2017
Toll-like receptor signalling and the control of intestinal barrier function in, Methods in Molecular Biology, 2016, [Johnston, D.G.W. and Corr, S.C.]
Johnston, Daniel and O'Neill, Luke and Corr, Sin{\'e, Su1893 Modulation of Intestinal Homeostasis and Microbial Activities by miR-21 in the Pathogenesis of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Gastroenterology, 150, (4), 2016, pS581
Palsson-Mcdermott, E.M., Curtis, A.M., Goel, G., (...), Xavier, R.J., O'Neill, L.A.J. , Erratum: Pyruvate kinase m2 regulates hif-1α activity and IL-1β induction and is a critical determinant of the warburg effect in lps-activated macrophages (Cell Metabolism (2015) 21 (65-80)), 2015, - 347
Palsson-McDermott EM, Curtis AM, Goel G, Lauterbach MA, Sheedy FJ, Gleeson LE, van den Bosch MW, Quinn SR, Domingo-Fernandez R, Johnson DG, Jiang J, Israelsen WJ, Keane J, Thomas C, Clish C, Vanden Heiden M, Xavier RJ, O'Neill LA, Pyruvate Kinase M2 Regulates Hif-1alfa Activity and IL-1ß Induction and Is a Critical Determinant of the Warburg Effect in LPS-Activated Macrophages., Cell metabolism, 21, (1), 2015, p65-80
Aviello G, Corr SC, Johnston DG, O'Neill LA, Fallon PG., MyD88 adaptor-like (Mal) regulates intestinal homeostasis and colitis-associated colorectal cancer in mice. , Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol., 306, 2014, pG769 - G778
Downer EJ, Johnston DG, Lynch MA, Differential role of Dok1 and Dok2 in TLR2-induced inflammatory signaling in glia., Molecular and cellular neurosciences, 56C, 2013, p148-158
Research Expertise
Description
Daniel's research interests lie at the barrier site of the human body, most notably the skin and gut, where we interact with our external environment. His work focuses on molecular mechanisms that govern our immune system's interaction with the external agencies (such as the microbiome), and the diseases that result in the breakdown of these mechanisms. In particular, he is interested in: 1. The effect of microbial metabolites on innate immune cell function. 2. Aberrant immune function in inflammatory diseases of the gut (e.g. inflammatory bowel diseases or IBD) and the skin (e.g. hidradenitis suppurativa [HS] and psoriasis). To date, his work has been supported by The Health Research Board, the Fulbright Commision, UCD Foundation and the British Skin Foundation among others.Projects
- Title
- Functional analysis of inflammasome protein mutations n the inflammatory skin disease hidradenitis suppurativa
- Summary
- Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a common and debilitating inflammatory skin disease with a prevalence between 1 and 4%. The aetiology of HS is poorly understood, and treatment options are limited 1 . Only 50% of patients respond to anti-TNF" biologics treatment, the current best-in-class therapy for the disease. Further research into the pathophysiology of HS is required in order to create more optimized and personalized treatment options. Combining the disciplines of human genetics, immunology and dermatology offers promise in the pursuit of this goal. One promising avenue of investigation towards understanding disease biology is the role of inflammasomes in HS. Inflammasomes are multiprotein complexes that play a central role in innate immunity. Inflammasome activation is crucial for host defense to pathogens, but overactivation has been reported in HS at the molecular level, but the reasons for this are unclear. Numerous case reports demonstrate that HS is a component of PAPA syndrome and a recent large epidemiological study found that HS is associated with Mediterranean Fever (MF), both implicating the pyrin inflammasome. This project aims this project is to functionally characterize these mutations using precise and sophisticated in vitro cell culture systems. This will help to uncover relevant disease biology, which will implicate cells and molecules in HS pathogenesis, and potentially point towards druggable pathways in this poorly studied condition.
- Funding Agency
- City of Dublin Skin and Cancer Hospital Charity
- Date From
- 01/02/2023
- Date To
- 01/02/2024
Recognition
Representations
Irish Representative to the Young European Federation of Immunological Sciences
Awards and Honours
HRB Health Impact Fulbright Scholarship
Visiting Assistant Professorship, UCD Charles Insitute of Dermatology
UCD Career Development Fellowship
AbbVie Newman Fellowship in Dermatology
Bryan Warren Junior Research Fellowship, Linacre College, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
Memberships
Anatomical Society
Irish Society for Immunology
British Society for Immunology, Oxford, GB