{"id":{"repo_id":"utswmed","oai_identifier":"oai:utswmed-ir.tdl.org:2152.5/10816"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/utswmed/oai:utswmed-ir.tdl.org:2152.5/10816","repository":{"repo_id":"utswmed","name":"University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center","base_url":"https://utswmed-ir.tdl.org/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"STING Signaling in Adaptive Immunity and Respiratory Physiology","abstract":"The author publishes under the names Kennady Knox and Kennady Abbott.","abstract_html":"The author publishes under the names Kennady Knox and Kennady Abbott.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Abbott, Kennady Noelle"],"institution":null,"degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Hooper, Lora V.","Yan, Nan","Pfeiffer, Julie K.","Johnson, Jane E."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2026,"date_issued":"2026-06-15T19:43:09Z","date_published":"2026-06-15T19:43:09Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:52:26Z","subjects":["CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes","Membrane Proteins","STING Protein"],"languages":["en"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["1596185063"],"render_values":[{"text":"1596185063","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/2152.5/10816","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Hooper, Lora V.","Yan, Nan","Pfeiffer, Julie K.","Johnson, Jane E."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Abbott, Kennady Noelle"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2026-06-15T19:43:09Z","2024-05","May 2024"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis","text"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes","Membrane Proteins","STING Protein"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/2152.5/10816","1596185063"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["The author publishes under the names Kennady Knox and Kennady Abbott.","Stimulator of Interferon Genes (STING) is a component of the cytosolic DNA sensing pathway that leads to production of type I interferons (IFN). While this pathway is essential for innate immune response to pathogenic infections, studies of STING functionality in adaptive immune cells are limited. Additionally, aberrant STING signaling is linked to a wide variety of human diseases and tissue pathologies. First, I established a Sting1IRES-EGFP reporter mouse to systematically characterize STING expression in tissues and during immune cell development. Using this model, I found that STING expression is highly variable between immune cell populations. I found several instances in which STING expression is restricted including lymphocyte development. Restoration of STING signaling using conditional STING knock-in mice leads to disrupted immune cell development, function, and significant tissue pathology. Additionally, I discovered that STING signaling during T lymphocyte development skews lineage commitment to favor increased production of γδ T lymphocytes (Chapter 2). Next, I investigated the contribution of STING signaling to respiratory pathophysiology in the context of viral infection. While STING signaling is critical to defense against DNA viruses which directly activate cGAS-STING, I found that STING is also required for protection against the RNA virus, Influenza A virus, in vivo in an IFN-dependent manner. STING expression in club cells, a type of bronchiolar epithelial cell critical for barrier function of the lung, is responsible for mediating this protection. I demonstrate that IAV infection does not directly activate STING signaling but is instead restricted by tonic IFN signaling maintained by the cGAS-STING pathway (Chapter 3). Finally, I studied the role of STING signaling in the development of lung cancer. I deleted STING globally in two genetically engineered mouse models of SCLC and generated a mouse model of pulmonary adenocarcinoma in which STING is deleted in the cells of cancer origin. I found no difference in the incidence, tumor burden, or survival in mice lacking STING in these models (Chapter 4). Together, these data highlight the physiological importance of controlled, rather than ubiquitous STING expression and reveals a role for STING signaling in adaptive lymphocyte development and T lymphocyte lineage commitment. These data also reveal an important function of STING in protecting the respiratory epithelium during viral infection."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["STING Signaling in Adaptive Immunity and Respiratory Physiology"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Hooper, Lora V.","Yan, Nan","Pfeiffer, Julie K.","Johnson, Jane E."],"dc:creator":["Abbott, Kennady Noelle"],"dc:date":["2026-06-15T19:43:09Z","2024-05","May 2024"],"dc:description":["The author publishes under the names Kennady Knox and Kennady Abbott.","Stimulator of Interferon Genes (STING) is a component of the cytosolic DNA sensing pathway that leads to production of type I interferons (IFN). While this pathway is essential for innate immune response to pathogenic infections, studies of STING functionality in adaptive immune cells are limited. Additionally, aberrant STING signaling is linked to a wide variety of human diseases and tissue pathologies. First, I established a Sting1IRES-EGFP reporter mouse to systematically characterize STING expression in tissues and during immune cell development. Using this model, I found that STING expression is highly variable between immune cell populations. I found several instances in which STING expression is restricted including lymphocyte development. Restoration of STING signaling using conditional STING knock-in mice leads to disrupted immune cell development, function, and significant tissue pathology. Additionally, I discovered that STING signaling during T lymphocyte development skews lineage commitment to favor increased production of γδ T lymphocytes (Chapter 2). Next, I investigated the contribution of STING signaling to respiratory pathophysiology in the context of viral infection. While STING signaling is critical to defense against DNA viruses which directly activate cGAS-STING, I found that STING is also required for protection against the RNA virus, Influenza A virus, in vivo in an IFN-dependent manner. STING expression in club cells, a type of bronchiolar epithelial cell critical for barrier function of the lung, is responsible for mediating this protection. I demonstrate that IAV infection does not directly activate STING signaling but is instead restricted by tonic IFN signaling maintained by the cGAS-STING pathway (Chapter 3). Finally, I studied the role of STING signaling in the development of lung cancer. I deleted STING globally in two genetically engineered mouse models of SCLC and generated a mouse model of pulmonary adenocarcinoma in which STING is deleted in the cells of cancer origin. I found no difference in the incidence, tumor burden, or survival in mice lacking STING in these models (Chapter 4). Together, these data highlight the physiological importance of controlled, rather than ubiquitous STING expression and reveals a role for STING signaling in adaptive lymphocyte development and T lymphocyte lineage commitment. These data also reveal an important function of STING in protecting the respiratory epithelium during viral infection."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://hdl.handle.net/2152.5/10816","1596185063"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:subject":["CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes","Membrane Proteins","STING Protein"],"dc:title":["STING Signaling in Adaptive Immunity and Respiratory Physiology"],"dc:type":["Thesis","text"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:52:26Z"}