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Elizabeth Goebel

Study systems include

B. pertussis, B. parapertussis and B. bronchiseptica

Host-microbe interactions

Herd Immunity to B. pertussis and how it affects the circulation of B. bronchiseptica in humans

Selected publications

Mann P, Goebel E, Barbarich J, Pilione M, Kennett M, and Harvill E. (2007) Use of a genetically defined double mutant strain of Bordetella bronchiseptica lacking Adenylate Cyclase and Type III Secretion as a live vaccine. Infect. Immun. 75: 3665-3672

Wolfe DN, Kirimanjeswara GS, Goebel EM, and Harvill ET (2007) Comparative role of Immunoglobulin A in protective immunity against the Bordetellae. Infect. Immun. 75: 4416-4422.

Wolfe DN, Goebel EM, Bjørnstad ON, Restif O and Harvill ET (2007) The O Antigen enables Bordetella parapertussis to avoid Bordetella pertussis-induced immunity. Infect. Immun. 75: 4972-4979.

Restif O, Wolfe DN, Goebel EM, Bjornstad ON and Harvill ET (2008) TOf mice and men: asymmetic interactions between the Bordetella pathogen species Parasitology.

Goebel EM, Wolfe DN, Elder K, Stibitz S, and Harvill ET (2008) O-Antigen protects B. parapertussis from complement. Infect. Immun. 76: 1774-1780

Elizabeth Goebel

Postdoctoral Researcher

Email: Elizabeth.M.Goebel@gmail.com

Phone: 814-865-9134

Office: 136 ASI (mailing address: 115 Henning Bldg)

Research interests

I work on the 3 classical Bordetella species, B. bronchiseptica, B. pertussis, and B. parapertussis, which are mammalian respiratory pathogens.

  • B. bronchiseptica is frequently isolated from a wide range of non-human mammals, causing respiratory diseases such as kennel cough and atrophic rhinitis
  • B. pertussis, and B. parapertussis are the causative agents of whooping cough, a disease that affects an estimated 50 million people annually worldwide

Interestingly, both B. pertussis and B. parapertussis evolved independently from a B. bronchiseptica-like progenitor, but do not induce reciprocal immunity due to the expression of O-antigen by B. parapertussis.

  • I have shown that while B. bronchiseptica is susceptible to B. pertussis-induced immunity, B. parapertussis is able to avoid this immunity by requiring an antibody - mediated immune response against O-antigen for protection
  • In addition to being a protective antigen, O-antigen also facilitates B. parapertussis colonization of the respiratory tract via inhibiting complement component C3 binding and subsequent lysis

Together, these data offer an explanation for the apparent host tropism of B. bronchiseptica to non-human mammals and the circulation of two closely related pathogens B. pertussis and B. parapertussis in human populations.
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