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Profile for Zachariah Tritz

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Zachariah Tritz

Pronouns: He/Him/His
Assistant Professor
Microbiology University of Wisconsin-La Crosse

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Zachariah Tritz Pronouns: He/Him/His

Assistant Professor

Microbiology

Specialty area(s)

Immunology

Brief biography

I am new faculty at UWL starting in Fall Semester 2023 and will be teaching MIC 310 (Immunology). I have a background in neuro-immunology, studying CD8 T cell activation, infiltration, and activity in the context of neurological insults like viral infections or cancers of the CNS. At UWL, my lab will be dissecting how an early event in T cell activation (the contact of MHC Class I & the T cell Receptor) causes intracellular changes in the paired Antigen Presenting Cell downstream of the MHC Class I molecule. This field of so-called "Reverse MHC Class I signaling" has exciting implications for fields across the health sciences, from transplant to adoptive cell therapies for cancers. For more information, check out our lab website (Link Coming Soon).

Current courses at UWL

MIC 310 -- Immunology

Education

B.A. Chemistry -- St. Olaf College (2017)
Ph.D. Biomedical Sciences -- Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (2023)

Career

Research and publishing

Published Works

  • Tritz ZP, Ayasoufi K, Wolf DM, Owens CA, Malo CS, Himes BT, Fain CE, Goddery EN, Yokanovich LT, Jin F, Hansen MJ, Parney IF, Wang C, Moynihan KD, Irvine DJ, Wittrup KD, Diaz Marcano RM, Vile RG, Johnson AJ. Cancer Immunology Research (2023).
  • Lorrey SJ, Polania JW, Wachsmuth LP, Hoyt-Miggelbrink A, Tritz ZP, Edwards R, Wolf DM, Johnson AJ, Fecci PE, Ayasoufi K. Systemic immune derangements are shared across various CNS pathologies and reflect novel mechanisms of immune privilege. Neuro-Oncology Advances (2023).
  • Zhang X, Pearsall VM, Carver CM, Atkinson EJ, Clarkson BDS, Grund EM, Baez-Faria M, Pavelko KD, Kachergus JM, White TA, Johnson RK, Malo CS, Gonzalez-Suarez AM, Ayasoufi K, Johnson KO, Tritz ZP, Fain CE, Khadka RH, Ogrodnik M, Jurk D, Zhu Y, Tchkonia T, Revzin A, Kirkland JL, Johnson AJ, Howe CL, Thompson EA, LeBrasseur NK, Schafer MJ. Rejuvenation of the aged brain immune cell landscape in mice through p16-positive senescent cell clearance. Nature Communications (2022).
  • Himes BT, Fain CE, Tritz ZP, Nesvick CL, Li HJL, Geiger PA, Peterson TE, Parney IF. Heparin rescues immunosuppressive reprogramming of monocytes by glioblastoma-derived extracellular vesicles. Journal of Neurosurgery (2022)
  • Tritz ZP, Ayasoufi K, Johnson AJ. Anti-PD-1 checkpoint blockade monotherapy in the orthotopic GL261 glioma model: the devil is in the detail. Neuro-Oncology Advances (2021)
  • Goddery EN, Fain CE, Lipovsky CG, Ayasoufi K, Yokanovich LT, Malo CS, Khadka RH, Tritz ZP, Jin F, Hansen MJ, Johnson AJ. Microglia and Perivascular Macrophages Act as Antigen Presenting Cells to Promote CD8 T cell Infiltration of the Brain. Frontiers in Immunology (2021)
  • Tritz ZP, Orozco RC, Malo CS, Ayasoufi K, Fain CE, Khadka RH, Goddery EN, Yokanovich LT, Settell ML, Hansen MJ, Jin F, Pavelko KD, Pease LR, Johnson AJ. Conditional silencing of H-2Db class I molecule expression modulates the protective and pathogenic kinetics of virus-antigen-specific CD8 T cell responses during Theiler’s Virus infection. The Journal of Immunology (2020)
  • Ayasoufi K, Pfaller CK, Khadka RH, Jin F, Zheng J, Schuelke MR, Hansen MJ, Fain CE, Tritz ZP, Dash B, Goddery EN, Yokanovich L, Morales K, Pease L, Vile RG, and Johnson AJ. Brain cancer induces systemic immunosuppression through release of non-steroid soluble mediators. Brain (2020)
  • VanLith CJ, Guthman RM, Nicolas CT, Allen KL, Liu Y, Chilton JA, Tritz ZP, Nyberg SL, Kaiser RA, Lillegard JB, Hickey RD. Ex Vivo hepatocyte reprogramming promotes homology-directed DNA repair to correct metabolic disease in mice after transplantation. Hepatology Communications (2019)

BioRxiv-Accessible Works under submission

  • Fain CE, Zheng J, Jin F, Ayasoufi K, Wu Y, Lilley MT, Dropik AR, Wolf DM, Rodriguez RC, Aibaidula A, Tritz ZP, Bouchal SM, Pewe LL, Urban SL, Chen Y, Chang S, Hansen MJ, Kachergus JM, Shi J, Thompson AA, Harty JT, Parney IF, Sun J, Wu L, Johnson AJ. Antigen presentation by discrete class I molecules on brain endothelium dynamically regulates T-cell mediated neuropathology in experimental cerebral malaria. Posted Nov 1st, 2022
  • Ayasoufi K, Wolf DM, Namen SL, Tritz ZP, Jin F, Pfaller CK, Goddery EN, Fain CE, Gulbicki LR, Khadka RH, Yokanovich LT, MJ Hansen, Johnson AJ. Brain resident memory T cells rapidly expand and initiate neuroinflammatory responses following CNS injury and viral infection. Posted April 10th, 2022

Kudos

presented

Zachariah Tritz, Microbiology, presented "Anti-PD-1 and extended half-life of IL2 synergize for treatment of murine glioblastoma independent of host MHC class I expression" at the 83rd American Society for Microbiology – North Central Branch Meeting on Nov. 4 in La Crosse, WI.

Submitted on: Nov. 10, 2023