Department of Immunology

Michael Gale Jr., Ph.D.

PROFESSOR, IMMUNOLOGY; ADJUNCT PROFESSOR, MICROBIOLOGY & GLOBAL HEALTH; MEMBER, FHCRC/UW CANCER CONSORTIUM; AFFILIATE INVESTIGATOR, CLINICAL RESEARCH DIV & VIRUS AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE DIV., FHCRC; DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR INNATE IMMUNITY & IMMUNE DISEASE (CIIID)

Dr. Michael Gale, Jr. received his training at the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine. He served on the faculty of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center until joining the University of Washington in 2007.

CONTACT INFO

Department of Immunology
University of Washington
Office E383, Box 358059
750 Republican Street
Seattle WA 98109-4766
Phone: 206-543-8514
Fax: 206-616-4274

RESEARCH AREAS

Molecular Immunology
Innate Immunity

LAB MEMBERS

Current lab members.

LAB

ACCEPTING NEW STUDENTS: YES

Website for the Gale Laboratory

Center for Innate
Immunity and Immune
Disease (CIIID)

PUBMED

Michael Gale, Jr., Ph.D.

RESEARCH

Gale Laboratory is part of the University of Washington, School of Medicine, Department of Immunology, and the Center for Innate Immunity and Immune Disease (CIIID). We are located at South Lake Union Campus.
Research in the Gale laboratory is focused on understanding the processes that trigger and control innate immunity and inflammation to program the immune response against RNA virus infection, and to define the virus-host interactions that control viral replication and the outcome of infection and immunity. We are also focused on defining the systems biology and innate immune interactions of acute and chronic microbial infection toward building interventions to fight disease and improve global health.
The laboratory is a member of the CIIID and is a component of the Systems Immunogenics Consortium, the Immune Mechanisms of Protection Against Mycobacterium Tuberculosis (IMPAc-TB) consortium, the Adjuvant Discovery and Development Program, the Infectious Disease Clinical Research Consortium (IDCRC), and the United World Arbovirus Research Network (UWARN), each funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). We are a component of the consortium for Development and Advancement of Broad-spectrum Respiratory Antivirals (DABRA) supported by the Department of Defense. The lab is also a member of the HIV Reservoir consortium supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. We operate the NIH-funded Nonhuman Primate Functional Genomics Core for AIDS vaccine Development. Additionally, The Gale laboratory has active research programs focused on understanding immune control of infection by hepatitis C virus, hepatitis B viruses, HIV, SIV, flaviviruses including Zika virus and West Nile virus, Hanta virus, SARS-CoV-2 and contemporary coronaviruses, and influenza viruses. We are also engaged in programs of study to understand the role of innate immunity and immune programming in maternal-fetal health. Our research team is working at the forefront of innate immunity to understand the immunomodulatory/antiviral actions of interferons, and to develop small molecule innate immune agonists as antiviral mediators for the clinical treatment of virus infection and as immune modulators to program the immune response. The lab works closely with collaborators within academic, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical institutions in Seattle, the USA, and across the world to conduct research to build new or improved vaccines and therapeutics to improve global health in the fight against SARS-CoV-2, HIV, Yellow Fever virus, West Nile virus, Zika virus, hepatitis B virus, and influenza A virus. We are a member lab of the UW Center for Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases (CERID) where we work to isolate and study novel emerging viruses. We are committed to teaching and training scientists to be educators, researchers, and clinicians in the areas of immunology, virology, public and global health, systems biology, and microbial infection and immunity.

PUBLICATIONS

  1. Wilkins, C., Woodward, J., Lau, D.T., Barnes, A., Joyce, M., McFarlane, N., McKeating, J.A., Tyrrell, D.L., Gale, M. Jr. (2013) IFITM1 is a tight junction protein that inhibits hepatitis C virus entry. Hepatology. 57:461-469. PMID: 22996292 PMCID: PMC3566288
  2. Wollish, A.C., Ferris, M.T., Blevins, L.K., Loo, Y-M., Gale, M. Jr. Heise, M.T. (2013) An attenuating mutation in a neurovirulent Sindbis virus strain interacts with the IPS-1 signaling pathway in vivo. Virology. 435:269-280. PMID: 23084425. PMCID: PMC3534923
  3. Lau, D.T., Negash, A., Chen, J., Crochet, N., Sinha, M., Zhang, Y., Guedj, J., Holder, S., Saito, T., Lemon, S.M., Luxon, B.A., Perelson, A.S., Gale, M. Jr. (2013) Innate immune tolerance and the role of kupffer cells in differential responses to interferon therapy among patients with HCV genotype 1 infection. Gastroenterology. 144:402-413. PMID: 23123437
  4. Mateo, R., Nagamine, C.M., Spagnolo, J., Mendez, E., Rahe, M., Gale, M. Jr., Yuan, J., Kirkegaard, K. (2013) Inhibition of cellular autophagy deranges dengue virion maturation. J Virol. 87:1312-1321. PMID: 23175363. PMCID: PMC3554187
  5. Ramos, H.J., Lanteri, M.C., Blahnik, G., Negash, A., Suthar, M.S., Brassil, M.M., Sodhi, K., Treuting, P.M., Busch, M.O., Norris, P.J., Gale, M. Jr. (2013) IL-1b signaling promotes CNS-intrinsic immune control of West Nile virus infection. PLoS Pathog. 8(11):e1003039. PMID: 23209411 PMCID: PMC3510243
  6. Lazear, H.M., Lancaster, A., Wilkins, C., Suthar, M.S., Huang, A., Vick, S.C., Clepper, L., Thackray, L., Brassil, M.M., Virgin, H.W., Nikolich-Zugich, J., Moses, A.V., Gale, M. Jr., Früh, K., Diamond, M.S. (2013) IRF-3, IRF-5, and IRF-7 Coordinately Regulate the Type I IFN Response in Myeloid Dendritic Cells Downstream of MAVS Signaling. PLoS Pathog. 9:e1003118. PMCID: PMC3536698
  7. Ma, D.Y., Suthar, M.S., Kasahara, S., Gale, M. Jr., Clark, E.A. (2013) CD22 is required for protection against West Nile Virus infection. J Virol. 87:3361-3375. PMCID: PMC3592166
  8. Kumar, M., Roe, K., Orillo, B., Muruve, D.A., Nerurkar, V.R., Gale, M. Jr., Verma, S. (2013) Inflammasome adaptor protein apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing CARD (ASC) is critical for the immune response and survival in West Nile virus encephalitis. J Virol. 87:3655-3667 PMCID: PMC3624239
  9. Suthar, M.S., Diamond, M.S., Gale, M. Jr. (2013) West Nile virus infection and immunity. Nat Rev Microbiol. 11:115-128. PMID: 23321534
  10. Wilkins, C., Gale, M. Jr. (2013) Sterol-izing Innate Immunity. Immunity. 38:3-5. PMID: 23352217
  11. Ermler, M.E., Yerukhim, E., Schriewer, J., Schattgen, S., Traylor, Z., Wespiser, A.R., Caffrey, D.R., Chen, Z.J., King, C.H., Gale, M. Jr., Colonna, M., Fitzgerald, K.A., Buller, R.M., Hise, A.G. (2013) RNA helicase signaling is critical for type I interferon production and protection against Rift Valley Fever virus during mucosal challenge. J Virol.87:4846-4860. PMCID: PMC3624317
  12. Cho, H., Proll, S.C., Szretter, K.J., Katze, M.G., Gale, M. Jr., Diamond, M.S. (2013) Differential innate immune response programs in neuronal subtypes determine susceptibility to infection in the brain by positive-stranded RNA viruses. Nat Med 19:458-464. PMCID:3618596
  13. 13.   Suthar, M.S., Brassil, M.M., Blahnik, G., McMillan, A., Ramos, H.J., Proll, S.C., Belisle, S.E., Katze, M.G., Gale, M. Jr. (2013) A systems biology approach reveals that tissue tropism to West Nile virus is regulated by antiviral genes and innate immune cellular processes. PLoS Pathog. 9:e1003168. PMCID:3567171
  14. Negash, A.A., Ramos, H.J., Crochet, N., Lau, D.T., Doehle, B., Papic, N., Delker, D.A., Bertoletti, A., Hagedorn, C.H., Gale, M. Jr. (2013) IL-1β Production through the NLRP2 Inflammasome by Hepatic Macrophages Links Hepatitis C Virus Infection with Liver Inflammation and Disease. PLoS PAthog. 9:e1003330. PMCID: PMC3635973
  15. Stone, A.E., Giugliano, S., Schnell, G., Cheng, L., Leahy, K.F., Golden-Mason, L., Gale, M. Jr., Rosen, H.R. (2013) Hepatitis C Virus Pathogen Associated Molecular Pattern (PAMP) Triggers Production of Lambda-Interferons by Human Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells. PLoS Pathog. 9:e1003316. PMCID: PMC3630164
  16. Li, J., Ding, S.C., Cho, H., Chung, B.C., Gale, M. Jr., Chanda, S.K., Diamond, M.S. (2013) A short hairpin RNA screen of interferon-stimulated genes identifies a novel negative regulator of the cellular antiviral response. MBio. 4(3):1-11. PMCID: PMC3684836
  17. Horner, S.M., Gale, M. Jr. (2013) Regulation of hepatic innate immunity by hepatitis C virus. Nat Med. 19(7):879-888. PMID: 23836238
  18. Lazear, H.M., Pinto, A.K., Ramos, H.J., Vick, S.C., Shrestha, B., Suthar, M.S., Gale, M. Jr., Diamond, M.S. (2013) The pattern recognition receptor MDA5 modulates CD8+ T cell-dependent clearance of West Nile virus from the central nervous system. J Virol. IN PRESS PMID: 23966390
  19. Errett, J.S., Suthar, M.S., McMillan, A., Diamond, M.S., Gale, M. Jr. (2013) The essential, non-redundant roles of RIG-I and MDA5 in detecting and controlling West Nile virus infection. J Virol. IN PRESS. PMID: 23966395