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Faculty Detail    
Name THOMAS P ATKINSON
  
Campus Address PP2 220
Phone  (205) 939-9072
E-mail  patkinso@uab.edu
Other websites
     


Faculty Appointment(s)
Appointment Type Department Division Rank
Primary  Ped - Pulmonary  Ped - Allergy Professor
Secondary  Med - Immunology/Rheumatology  Med - Immunology/Rheumatology Professor
Secondary  Microbiology  Microbiology Professor
Center  Center for AIDS Research  Center for AIDS Research Professor
Center  Comp Arthritis, MSK, Bone & Autoimmunity Ctr  Comp Arthritis, MSK, Bone & Autoimmunity Ctr Professor
Center  Comprehensive Cancer Center  Comprehensive Cancer Center Professor
Center  Ctr for Clinical & Translational Sci  Ctr for Clinical & Translational Sci Professor
Center  UAB Immunology Institute  UAB Immunology Institute Professor
Center  UWIRC Microbiome Center  UWIRC Microbiome Center Professor

Graduate Biomedical Sciences Affiliations
Cellular and Molecular Biology Program 
Hughes Med-Grad Fellowship Program 
Immunology 
Medical Scientist Training Program 
Microbiology 

Biographical Sketch 
Dr. Atkinson is a 1987 graduate of the Emory University MD-PhD Program, where he completed his graduate degree in Experimental Pathology. He completed a pediatrics residency at UAB and Georgetown University and a fellowship in Allergy/Immunology at the National Institutes of Health. He came to UAB in 1992 after completing his fellowship and has pursued an active research career in basic and clinical immunology.

Society Memberships
Organization Name Position Held Org Link
American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology  Member  http://www.aaaai.org 
 



Research/Clinical Interest
Title
Primary Immunodeficiency and the Role of Infection in Chronic Diseases
Description
Research in my laboratory is focused on the role of infection in chronic diseases, especially arthritis and asthma. Work is proceeding on a research grant to explore immune responses to mycoplasma infection in normal and asthmatic children with particular emphasis on possible effects of the organism on mast cells and the IgE system. My recent graduate student Kristie Hoek found that Mycoplasma pneumoniae is able to activate mast cells to produce IL-4, a finding with potential implications in the pathogenesis of asthma. Work is currently proceeding under a new grant to characterize the mechanism of cellular activation by M. pneumoniae. I am also actively engaged in the development of rational strategies to determine the molecular basis for unidentified immunodeficiencies in patients in my weekly clinic at Children’s Hospital. Such patients may represent natural “knockouts” or dominant negative mutations in signaling molecules and provide valuable insights into critical steps in receptor signaling in the human immune system.

Selected Publications 
Publication PUBMEDID
Atkinson, T.P., Smith, C.A., Hsu, Y.M., Garber, E., Su, L., Howard, T.H., Prchal, J.T., Everson, M.P., and Cooper, M.D. 1998. Leukocyte transfusion-associated granulocyte responses in a patient with X-linked hyper-IgM syndrome. J.Clin.Immunol. 18:430-439.  9857288 
Zhu, Z.B., Atkinson, T.P., Volanakis, J.E. 1998. A novel type II complement C2 deficiency allele in an African-American family. J. Immunol. 161:578-584.  9670930 
Atkinson, T.P., Bonitatibus, G.M., and Berkow, R.L. 1997. Chronic granulomatous disease in two children presenting with recurrent infections: family studies using dihydrorhodamine-based flow cytometry. J.Pediatr. 130:488-491.  9063432 
Goldsmith, J.F., Hall, C.G., and Atkinson, T.P. 2002. Identification of an alternatively-spliced isoform of the fyn tyrosine kinase. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 298:501-4.  12408980 
Chun, H.G., Zheng, L., Ahmad, M., Wang, J., Speirs, C.K., Siegel, R.M., Dale, J.K., Puck, J., Davis, J., Hall, C.G., Skoda-Smith, S., Atkinson, T.P., Straus, S.E., and Lenardo, M.J. 2002. Pleiotropic defects in lymphocyte activation caused by caspase-8 mutations lead to human immunodeficiency. Nature 419:395-399.  12353035 
Hoek, K.L., Cassell, G.H., Duffy, L.B., and Atkinson, T.P. 2002. Mycoplasma pneumoniae-induced activation and cytokine production in rodent mast cells. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 109(3):470-76.  11897994 
Atkinson, T.P., Schaffer, A.A., Grimbacher, B., Schroeder, H.W., Jr., Woellner, C., Zerbe, C.S., and Puck, J.M. 2001. Immune defect causing dominant chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis and thyroid disease maps to chromosome 2p in a single pedigree. Am.J.Hum.Genetics 69(4):791-803.  11517424 
Lima, J.O., Zhang, L., Atkinson, T.P., Philips, J., Dasanayake, A.P. and Schroeder, H.W. 2000. Early expression of Iepsilon, CD23 (FceRII), IL-4 receptor, and IgE in the human fetus. J.Allergy Clin.Immunol. 106(5):911-7  11080714 
Berney S.M. and Atkinson T.P. 2000. Measurement of phosphatidylinositol (PI) hydrolysis in activated T lymphocytes. Methods Mol. Biol. 134:211-9.  10730260 
Zhu Z-B., Atkinson T.P., Hovanky, K.T., Boppana, S.B., Dai, Y.L., Densen, P., Go, R.C.P., Jablecki, J.S, and Volanakis, J.E. 2000. High prevalence of complement C6 deficiency in African-Americans in the Southeastern United States. Clin.Exp.Immunol. 119:305-310.  10632667 
Atkinson, T.P. and Dai, Y. An AGCAG mofif at the 3' splice acceptor site predicts alternate mRNA splice variants differing by one codon in multiple genes.Biochem Biophys Res Comm. In Press.   
Endo L.M., Rowe SM, Romp SL, Buckmaster MA, Atkinson TP. 2006. Pulmonary aneurysms and intracardiac thrombi due to Behcet's disease in an African-American adolescent with oculocutaneous albinism. Clin.Rheumatol. In Press.   
Nabe T, Zindl CL, Jung YW, Stephens R, Sakamoto A, Kohno S, Atkinson TP, and Chaplin DD 2005. Induction of a late asthmatic response associated with airway inflammation in mice. Eur. J. Pharmacol. 521:144-55.   
Fischer R, McGhee JR, Vu HL, Atkinson TP, Jackson RJ, Tome D, Boyaka PN. 2005 Oral and nasal sensitization promote distinct immune responses and lung reactivity in a mouse model of peanut allergy. Am. J. Pathol. 167(6):1621-30   
Hoek KL, Duffy, LB Cassell GH, and Atkinson TP 2005. A role for the Mycoplasma pneumoniae adhesin P1 in interleukin (IL)-4 synthesis and release from rodent mast cells. Microb. Pathogen. 39-149-58.   
Pastva A, Estell K, Schoeb TR, Atkinson TP, and Schwiebert LM 2004. Aerobic exercise attenuates airway inflammatory responses in a mouse model of atopic asthma. J. Immunol. 172:4520-4526.   
Atkinson TP. 2002. Primary immunodeficiency studies at University of Alabama at Birmingham: continuing the search for genetic causes. Immunologic Research 26:1-5.   
 

Keywords
asthma, mycoplasma, arthritis, primary immunodeficiency