Tufts University · Microbiology & ImmunologyBacterial Infections and Immune Response Lab
Alexander Poltorak · Medford, Massachusetts
Research Focus
Dr. Alexander Poltorak's lab at Tufts University studies how the body responds to bacterial infections, specifically focusing on a protein called ZBP1. They explore how ZBP1 influences cell death and inflammation in response to lipopolysaccharides (LPS), which are components of bacterial cell membranes. Their research aims to uncover new pathways in the immune response and identify potential therapeutic targets to improve treatments for infections.
LPSZBP1caspase 8inflammationpyroptosisTRIFosomebacterial infectionsimmune responsein vivo studies
Research Aims
4AIM 01Investigate the in vitro role of ZBP1 in LPS-mediated immune responses.
AIM 02Characterize the TRIFosome complex and its components in response to LPS.
AIM 03Assess how ZBP1 affects the kinetics of inflammatory responses to LPS in vivo.
AIM 04Evaluate the protective role of ZBP1 against gram-negative bacterial infections.
Skills the Lab Values
cell culturegene silencing techniquesimmunoprecipitationin vitro assaysmouse modelsprotein interaction studiesWestern blottingcytokine assaysexperimental models
Output against the department
Publications96bottom 33% of dept.326th of 486
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations14ktop 28% of dept.134th 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.