People

Estelle Cormet-Boyaka

PhD

Professor; Co-Director of the Cure CF Columbus Epithelial Production, Analysis, and Innovation Core (C3-EPAIC); Associate Investigator of the Dorothy Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute (DHLRI); Member, Infectious Disease Institute

Contact

boyaka.2@osu.edu (614) 292-5948 Goss Laboratory
1925 Coffey Road
Columbus, OH 43210
Map Link

Department

Veterinary Biosciences

Professional Training and Experience

  • PhD, University of Paris XI France, Pharmacology
  • MS, University of Paris XI France, Biochemistry

Research Interests

Our research focuses on understanding how environmental pollutants and genetic factors impair the lungs' natural defenses against pathogens, increasing susceptibility to respiratory infections.

We aim to identify new strategies to strengthen these defenses and improve respiratory health. Our research focuses on several interconnected areas:

  • Airway Epithelial Biology and Lung Defense: Understanding how the cells lining our airways protect the lungs from harmful bacteria, viruses, and environmental exposures, and how these protective mechanisms become impaired during disease.
  • Cystic Fibrosis and Chronic Lung Diseases: Investigating why people with cystic fibrosis and other chronic respiratory diseases develop persistent infections and inflammation, with the goal of identifying new approaches to improve lung function and prevent disease progression.
  • Host Defense Against Bacterial Infections: Studying how naturally occurring proteins in the lungs, particularly intelectins, recognize and interact with bacteria. We are especially interested in how these proteins influence bacterial behavior, prevent the formation of biofilms (bacterial communities that are difficult to eliminate), and potentially improve the effectiveness of antibiotics.
  • Respiratory Viral Infections and Inflammation: Understanding how the immune system responds to respiratory viruses, why some responses successfully eliminate infections while others cause excessive or prolonged inflammation, and how these responses contribute to lung injury.
  • Development of Innovative Models to Study Lung Diseases: Using human airway cells, three-dimensional tissue cultures, precision-cut lung slices, and animal models to better understand respiratory diseases and evaluate potential treatments.

Our ultimate goal is to translate our discoveries into new strategies that strengthen the lung's natural defenses, prevent respiratory infections, reduce harmful inflammatioin, and improve the lives of individuals and animals affected by lung diseases.

University Memberships

  • 2012 - present Member Ohio State University Food Innovation Center
  • 2008 - present Member of the Translational Therapeutic Development Center for Cystic Fibrosis (Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus OH).
  • 2009 - 2012 Member of the Pulmonary Research Planning Committee, The Ohio State University College of Medicine
  • 2009 - 2011 Member of the Education Committee, The Ohio State University College of Medicine 

Honors

  • 2011 Travel Award for outstanding scientific research at the Pittsburgh International Lung Conference
  • 2011 Experimental Biology Conference Meeting Mentor for APS/NIDDK Minority Travel Award
  • 2010 Air Pollution Research Scholar. American Lung Association.
  • 2008 Cell and Molecular Physiology Section New Investigator Award. Experimental Biology Conference (FASEB).
  • 1993 - 1996 Pre-doctoral Fellowship from French Ministry.

Professional Service

  • 2010 - present: American Thoracic Society (member) 2008 Co-chair Experimental Biology, Ion channels Symposium
  • 2003 - present: The American Physiological Society (member)

Administrative Service

  • Editor-in-Chief of Pulmonary Pharmacology and Therapeutics (Elsevier)

Service as Reviewer for Peer-Review Journals

  • 2012-present PLoS One
  • 2012-present Chemical Research in Toxicology
  • 2012-present Toxicological Sciences
  • 2012-present American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology
  • 2010-present Cell Biology and Toxicology
  • 2010-present Experimental Cell Research
  • 2009-present Pediatric Pulmonology

Service as Panel Members for Grant review

  • 2011 “Heart Lung and Blood Program” Study Section, NIH-NHLBI June 2011
  • 2009 Reviewer for Cystic Fibrosis Foundation “Pilot and Feasibility” grants
  • 2008 Reviewer for Cystic Fibrosis Foundation “Pilot and Feasibility” grants

Teaching

Undergraduate, Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Mentoring

  • Mohamed Wahba, Graduate Research Associate, Immunology and Immunotherapeutics Graduate Program (OSU)
  • Akshaya Garrepelli, Master student, Comparative Biomedical Science Program (OSU)
  • Andy Weisgerber, Undergraduate student (Ohio Wesleyan University)
  • Claire Young, Undergraduate student (OSU) - STEP awardee
  • Gabbi Weiner, Undergraduate student (OSU) - STEP awardee
  • Greta Baran, Undergraduate student (OSU)

Publications

  • Xiaohua Xu, Robert Balsiger, Jean Tyrrell, Prosper N. Boyaka, Robert Tarran, and Estelle Cormet-Boyaka. Cigarette smoke exposure reveals a novel role for the MEK/ERK1/2 MAPK pathway in regulation of CFTR. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) General Subjects, 1850(6):1224-32 (2015).
  • Junbae Jee, Astrid Bonnegarde-Bernard, Alexandra Duverger, Yoichiro Iwakura, Estelle Cormet-Boyaka, Tara Martin, Haley E. Steiner, Ryan C. Bachman, and Prosper N. Boyaka. Neutrophils negatively regulate induction of mucosal IgA responses after sublingual immunization. Mucosal Immunology, doi: 10.1038/mi.2014.105 (2015).
  • Dalia H. A. Abelaziz, Hany Khalil, Estelle Cormet-Boyaka and Amal O. Amer. The cooperation between autophagy and inflammasome to implement an appropriate innate immune response: Who controls who? Immunological Reviews, 265(1):194-204 (2015).
  • Bonnegarde-Bernard A, Jee J, Fial MJ, Steiner H, Dibartola S, Davis IC, Cormet-Boyaka E, Tomé D, Boyaka PN. Routes of Allergic Sensitization and Myeloid Cell IKKβ Differentially Regulate Antibody Responses and Allergic Airway Inflammation in Male and Female Mice. PloS One, 9(3):e92307 (2014).
  • Bonnegarde-Bernard A, Jee J, Fial MJ, Aeffner F, Cormet-Boyaka E, Davis IC, Lin M, Tomé D, Karin M, Sun Y, Boyaka PN. IKKβ in intestinal epithelial cells regulates allergen-specific IgA and allergic inflammation at distant mucosal sites. Mucosal Immunology, 7(2):257-67 (2014).
  • Hassan F, Xu X, Nuovo G, Killilea DW, Tyrrell J, Da Tan C, Tarran R, Diaz P, Jee J, Knoell D, Boyaka PN, Cormet-Boyaka E. Accumulation of metals in GOLD4 COPD lungs is associated with decreased CFTR levels. Respir Res. 15:69. doi: 10.1186/1465-9921-15-69 (2014).
  • Gilette DD, Shah PA, Cremer T, Gavrilin MA, Besecker BY, Sarkar A, Knoell DL, Cormet-Boyaka E, Wewers MD, Butchar JP, Tridandapani S. Analysis of human bronchial epithelial cell pro-inflammatory response to Burkholderia cenocepacia infection: inability to secrete IL-1β. J. Biol. Chem., 288(6):3691-5 (2013).
  • Kirkby Stephen, Teferra Rahel, Patel Alpa, Cormet-Boyaka Estelle, Hayes Don. Diagnosis and management of concomitant Cystic Fibrosis in patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Clinical Pulmonary Medicine, 20(3):113-116 (2013).
  • Fatemat Hassan, Gerard J. Nuovo, Melissa Crawford, Prosper N. Boyaka, Stephen Kirkby, Serge P. Nana-Sinkam, and Estelle Cormet-Boyaka. MiR-101 and miR-144 regulate the expression of the CFTR chloride channel in the lung. PLOS One, 7(11):e50837 (2012).
  • Gillette DD, Shah PA, Cremer T, Gavrilin MA, Besecker BY, Sarkar A, Knoell DL, Cormet-Boyaka E, Wewers MD, Butchar JP, Tridandapani S. Analysis of human bronchial epithelial cell pro-inflammatory response to Burkholderia cenocepacia infection: inability to secrete IL-1β. J. Biol. Chem., 288(6):3691-5 (2012).
  • TJ Cremer, K Fatehchand, P Shah, D Gillette, H Patel, RL Marsh, BY Besecker, MV Rajaram, E Cormet-Boyaka, TD Kanneganti, LS Schlesinger, JP Butchar, and S Tridandapani. MiR-155 induction by microbes/microbial ligands requires NF-κB-dependent de novo protein synthesis. Frontiers in Cellular and Microbial Infection. 2:73 (2012).
  • Qadri YJ, Cormet-Boyaka E [co-first-author], Rooj AK, Lee W, Parpura V, Fuller CM, Berdiev BK. Low temperature and chemical rescue affect the molecular proximity of {Delta}F508-CFTR and ENaC. J. Biol. Chem., 287(20):16781-90 (2012).
  • Napolitano JR, Liu MJ, Bao S, Crawford M, Nana-Sinkam P, Cormet-Boyaka E, Knoell DL. Cadmium-mediated toxicity of lung epithelia is enhanced through NF-κB-mediated transcriptional activation of the human zinc transporter ZIP8. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol., 302(9):L909-18 (2012).
  • Rennolds J, Malireddy S, Hassan F, Tridandapani S, Parinandi N, Boyaka PN, and Cormet-Boyaka E. Curcumin regulates airway epithelial cell cytokine responses to the pollutant cadmium. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Com., 417(1):256-61 (2012).
  • Cormet-Boyaka E, Jolivette K, Bonnegarde A, Rennolds J, Hassan F, Mehta P, Tridandapani S, Webster-Marketon J, and Boyaka PN. An NF-κB-independent and Erk1/2-dependent mechanism controls CXCL8/IL-8 responses of airway epithelial cells to cadmium. Toxicological Sciences, 125(2):418-29 (2012).
  • Duverger A; Carré JM; Jee J; Leppla SH; Cormet-Boyaka E; Tang WJ; Tomé D; Boyaka PN. Contributions of edema factor and protective antigen to the induction of protective immunity by Bacillus anthracis edema toxin as an intranasal adjuvant. Journal Of Immunology. Vol. 185, no. 10. (November 15): 5943 (2010).
  • Rennolds J; Butler S; Maloney K; Boyaka PN; Davis IC; Knoell DL; Parinandi NL; Cormet-Boyaka E. Cadmium regulates the expression of the CFTR chloride channel in human airway epithelial cells. Toxicological Sciences: An Official Journal Of The Society Of Toxicology. Vol. 116, no. 1. (July 1): 349 (2010).
  • Cormet-Boyaka E; Hong JS; Berdiev BK; Fortenberry JA; Rennolds J; Clancy JP; Benos DJ; Boyaka PN; Sorscher EJ. 2009. A truncated CFTR protein rescues endogenous DeltaF508-CFTR and corrects chloride transport in mice. The FASEB Journal: Official Publication Of The Federation Of American Societies For Experimental Biology. Vol. 23, no. 11. (November 1): 3743 (2009).