University of Louisville · Microbiology & ImmunologyLawrenz Lab
Matthew B Lawrenz · Louisville, Kentucky
Research Focus
Dr. Matthew Lawrenz's lab at the University of Louisville focuses on understanding how the bacterium Yersinia pestis, which causes plague, interacts with the human immune system. His research investigates how this pathogen alters immune responses and evades inflammation during infection. By studying the mechanisms that Yersinia pestis uses to suppress immune communication and acquire essential nutrients from the host, the lab aims to uncover potential new therapies for plague and improve our understanding of bacterial infection processes.
Yersinia pestisextracellular vesiclesimmune evasionlipid mediatorsmetal acquisitioninflammationpneumonic plaguevirulencecalprotectinsiderophores
Research Aims
5AIM 01Define changes in pulmonary extracellular vesicle populations during pneumonic plague.
AIM 02Investigate the molecular mechanisms of EV biogenesis in neutrophils affected by Yersinia pestis.
AIM 03Identify mechanisms governing metal acquisition by Yersinia pestis.
AIM 04Examine the therapeutic potential of inhibiting Yersinia pestis metal acquisition systems.
AIM 05Analyze how Yersinia pestis alters pro-inflammatory lipid mediator synthesis to modulate host inflammation.
Skills the Lab Values
cell culturemouse modelsmolecular cloningimmunofluorescenceWestern blottingRNA extractionPCRflow cytometrylipid analysisbacterial genetics
Output against the department
Publications67bottom 19% of dept.391st of 486
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations2.2kbottom 13% of dept.421st of 486
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.