Biography
I earned by Bachelor of Arts from Concordia College in Moorhead, MN and then I earned my Ph.D. in Biochemistry with an emphasis in Immunology at North Dakota State University in Fargo, ND. I did a post-doctoral fellowship at the USDA in Grand Forks, ND with Dr. Matthew Picklo for 2 years, then I moved to Saranac Lake, NY and did a 2nd 2-year post-doctoral fellowship at the Trudeau Institute with Dr. Elizabeth Leadbetter. I returned to the USDA in Grand Forks to do a 3rd post-doctoral fellowship with Dr. Kate Claycombe-Larson. I am a Research Associate Professor at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences with appointments in thedepartments of Pathology, Surgery, and Biomedical Sciences and have been at UND since Dec. 2015.
My research is focused on epithelial cell crosstalk with immune cells during wound healing. We are specifically working on a novel FAK drug that leads to a significant increase in wound healing in the gastrointestinal mucosa. I have expertise in signal transduction, immunology, cell culture, and in vivo mouse models. I am highly experienced in transgenic mouse models and intestinal mucosal research. I am proficiently skilled in mouse intestinal surgery and intestinal mucosal analysis such as histology, flow cytometry, qPCR, and cytotoxicity assays. This current project builds on my prior immunology work from my post-doctoral fellowships to this current wound healing project. I have mentored post-doctoral, graduate, and undergraduate students. I have the team-oriented leadership and organizational skills for running a successful research program.
Development of novel FAK activators and their applications toward human intestinal epithelial wound closure and mouse ulcer healing: We have developed a number of FAK activator drug molecules that not only promotes mucosal healing in an ischemic murine ulcer model and in NSAID indomethacin and aspirin-associated small bowel muscoal injury in mice with minimal toxicity and high specificity. Lastly, we have described the mechanism of action on FAK and have reported the preliminary structure-activity-relationship.
- Qinggang Wang, Ricardo Gallardo-Macias, Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey, Rashmi Gupta, Svetlana Golovko, Mikhail Golovko, Sema Oncel, Vadim Gurvich, Marc D. Basson. A novel drug-like water-soluble small molecule Focal Adhesion Kinase (FAK) activator promotes intestinal mucosal healing. Current Research in Pharmacology and Drug Discover. 4:100147, 2023.
- Rashmi, Shyam K. More, Qinggang Wang, Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey, James E. Porter, Marc D. Basson. ZINC40099027 activates human Focal Adhesion Kinase by accelerating the catalytic activity of the FAK kinase domain. Pharmacology Research & Perspectives. 9(2): e00737, 2021.
- Qinggang Wang, Shyam K. More, Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey, Mikhail Y. Golovko, Marc D. Basson. Small molecule FAK activator promotes human intestinal epithelial monolayer wound closure and mouse ulcer healing. Scientific Reports. 9(1): 14669, 2019.
- Shyam K. More, Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey, Marc D. Basson. ZN4085554 inhibits cancer cell adhesion by interfering with the interaction of Akt1 and FAK. Oncology Letters. 17:5251-5260, 2019.
Schlafen 12 (SLFN12) drives human enterocyte differentiation and reduces cancer aggressiveness: SLFN12 and its rodent analog, Slfn3, play a critical role in regulating small intestinal epithelial differentiation. Diverse stimuli such as TGF-β, butyrate, and repetitive deformation all induce differentiation marker expression by increasing SLFN12 in Caco2 cells and Slfn3 in IEC-6 cells. We have determined that induction of intestinal epithelial differentiation marker, sucrase isomaltase, is via SLFN12 interaction with SerpinB12 and deubiquitylases, USP14 and UCHL5, and the transcription factor, Cdx2. The work on this pathway may be targeted to manipulate human enterocytic differentiation in short gut syndrome, mucosal atrophy, cancer, or obesity. Additionally, we have identified that SLFN12 reduces aggressiveness of triple negative breast cancer and my contributions to this work were experimental design, performed research experiments, analyzed the data, and wrote the manuscripts.
- Savannah R. Brown and Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey. Current immunotherapy treatments of primary breast cancer subtypes. 12, 895, 2024.
- Savannah R. Brown, Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey, Sarmad Al-Marsoummi, Nicholas D. Brown, Kole Hermanson, and Marc D. Basson. Schlafen Family Intra-Regulation by IFN-α2 in Triple Negative Breast Cancer. 15(23): 5658, 2023.
- Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey, Odele K. Rajpathy, Elizabeth Preszler, and Marc D. Basson. Vil-Cre specific Slfn3KO mice exhibit sex-specific differences in lung, stomach, cecum, kidney, and proximal colon differentiation markers and Slfn family members expression levels. Biochemistry and Biophysics Reports. 36: 101552, 2023.
- Sandeep S. Singhal, Sarmad Al-Marsoummi, Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey, Bo Lauckner, Trysten Beyer, Marc D. Basson. Exogenous SLFN12 reduces in vivo TNBC tumor growth, increases luminal markers and a gene signature that predicts better breast cancer survival in cohort database analysis. 15(2):402, 2023.
- Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey, Sonalika Singhal, Sandeep S. Singhal, Allie D. Stover, Odele Rajpathy, Elizabeth Preszler, Luis Garcia, Marc D. Basson. RNA sequencing of intestinal enterocytes pre- and post-Roux-en-Y gastric bypass reveals alteration in gene expression related to enterocyte differentiation, restitution, and obesity with regulation by Schlafen 12. 11(20):3282, 2022.
- Ahmed Adham Raafat Elsayed, Sarmad Al-Marsoummi, Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey, Marc D. Basson. SLFN12 overexpression sensitizes triple negative breast cancer cells to chemotherapy drugs and radiotherapy. Cancer Genomic & Proteomics. 19: 328-338, 2022.
- Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey, Allie Stover, Mary Labuhn, Marcus R. Osman, and Marc D. Basson. Vil-Cre specific Schlafen 3 knockout mice exhibit sex-specific differences in intestinal differentiation markers and Schlafen family member expression levels. PLoS ONE. 16(10): e0259195, 2021.
- Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey, Jack T. Lansing, Diane C. Darland, Josey Umthun, Allie D. Stover, Christopher Brown, Marc D. Basson. Loss of Slfn3 induces a gender-dependent repair vulnerability after 50% bowel resection. American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology. 320(2): G136-G152, 2020.
- Sarmad Al-Marsoummi, Jonathan Pacella, Kaylee Dockter, Matthew Soderberg, Sandeep K. Singhal, Emilie Vomhof-DeKrey, Marc D. Basson. Schlafen 12 is prognostically favorable and reduces c-Myc and proliferation in lung adenocarcinoma but not in lung squamous cell carcinoma. Cancers. 12(10):E2738, 2020.
- Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey, Josey Umthun, Marc D. Basson. Loss of Schlafen3 influences the expression levels of Schlafen family members in ileum, thymus, and spleen tissue. 8:e8461, 2020.
- Sarmad Al-Marsoummi, Emilie Vomhof-DeKrey, Marc D. Basson. Schlafen 12 reduces the aggressiveness of triple negative breast cancer through post-transcriptional regulation of ZEB1 that drives stem cell differentiation. Cellular Physiology and Biochemistry. 53(6): 999-1014, 2019.
- Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey, Jun Lee, Jack Lansing, Chris Brown, Diane Darland, Marc D. Basson. Schlafen 3 knockout mice display gender-specific differences in weight gain, food efficiency, and expression of markers of intestinal epithelial differentiation, metabolism, and immune cell function. PLoS ONE. 14(7): e029267, 2019.
- Lakshmi S. Chaturvedi, Qinggang Wang, Shyam K. More, Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey, Marc D. Basson. Schlafen 12 mediates the effects of butyrate and repetitive mechanical deformation on intestinal epithelial differentiation in human Caco-2 intestinal epithelial cells. Human Cell, 32 (3): 240-250, 2019.
- Marc D. Basson, Qinggang Wang, Lakshmi S. Chaturvedi, Shyam More, Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey, Sarmad Al-Marsoummi, Kelian Sun, Leslie Kuhn, Pavlo Kovalenko, Matti Kiupel. Schlafen 12 interaction with Serpin B12 and deubiquitylases drives human enterocyte differentiation. Cellular Physiology and Biochemistry. 48(3): 1274-1290, 2018.
Cooperation of Invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cell during humoral infectious disease responses: iNKT follicular helper cells (iNKTFH) can provide help to B cells during a humoral immune response similarly to conventional CD4 T follicular helper cells (TFH). iNKTFH cell can provide either direct or indirect help for B cells, however, only indirect iNKTFH cell help leads to humoral antigen-specific humoral immunity. We investigated the mechanisms by which B cell activation outcomes differ due to iNKT cell direct or indirect help. We found direct iNKT cell help induces a rapid, primary antibody response by B cells that are mostly marginal zone regulatory B10 cells. These results will influence human vaccine development especially with the increasing interest in α-galactosylceramide (iNKT cell activator) as an adjuvant.
- Travis Shute, Eyal Amiel, Noran Alam, Jennifer Yates, Katya Mohrs, Elizabeth Dudley, Briana Salas, Chloe Mesa, Adriana Serrata, Daniel Angel, B.K. Vincent, Amanda Weyers, Paula Lanthier, Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey, Rachel Fromme, Mitchell Laughlin, Olivia Durham, Jianjun Miao, Devon Shipp, Robert J. Linhardt, Kelly Nash, Elizabeth Leadbetter. Glycolipid-containing nanoparticle vaccine engages iNKT cells to enhance humoral protection against systemic bacterial infection but abrogates vaccine responses during chronic activation. Journal of Immunology. 206: 1806-1816, 2021.
- Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey, Jennifer Yates, Thomas Hägglöf, Paula Lanthier, Eyal Amiel, Natacha Veerapen, Gurdyal S. Besra, Mikael C.I. Karlsson, and Elizabeth Leadbetter. Cognate interaction with iNKT cells expands IL-10 - producing B regulatory cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. 112 (40): 12474-9, 2015.
- Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey, Jennifer Yates, Elizabeth A. Leadbetter. Invariant NKT cells provide innate and adaptive help for B cells. Current Opinion in Immunology. 28:12-17, 2014.
- Lydia Lynch, Xavier Michelet, Sai Zhang, Patrick J. Brennan, Ashley Moseman, Chantel Lester, Gurdyal Besra, Emilie Vomhof-DeKrey, Mike Tighe, Hui-Fern Koay, Dale I. Godfrey, Elizabeth A. Leadbetter, Derek B. Sant’Angelo, Ulrich von Adrian, and Michael B. Brenner. Regulatory iNKT cells lack expression of the transcription factor PLZF and control the homeostasis of Treg cells and macrophages in adipose tissue. Nature Immunology. 16: 85-95, 2015.
- Elizabeth Leadbetter, Eyal Amiel, Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey, Robert Linhardt, Amanda Weyers, and Jianjun Miao. Nanoparticles for Immune Stimulation. Document type and number: WIPO Patent Application WT/2015/116775; Application # US2015/013441. Publication # WO2015116775 A1, Publication Date: Aug. 6, 2015
Maternal diet effects on obesity: A low protein (LP) maternal diet reduces offspring birth weight and leads to adolescent and adult obesity in Sprague-Dawley rats. However, the mechanisms by which a maternal LP diet leads to low birth weight and increased adult obesity are not completely known. We found that in neonatal offspring brown adipose tissue thermogenesis markers (UCP-1, PRDM16, PPARα) were increased. The precursor of irisin (activator of thermogenesis), FNDC5, was also increased in LP neonate rats. Additionally, we found that a maternal LP diet leads to an increase in angiogenic factors, FGF2, VEGFR-1, IGF2, M2 TNFα+ macrophages and a decrease in M1 macrophages and iNKT cells. Therefore, LP placentas have increased angiogenesis in order to try to compensate for the under nutritional diet, yet this disruption in a normal placental histochemistry does not allow for a normal birth weight. These results will impact the treatment and prevention of human obesity through the effects of a maternal diet and how that can imprint epigenetic changes on the offspring.
- Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey, Diane Darland, Othman Ghribi, Amy Bundy, James N. Roemmich, Kate J. Claycombe. Maternal low protein diet leads to placental angiogenic compensation via dysregulated M1/M2 macrophages and TNFα expression in Sprague-Dawley rats. Journal of Reproductive Immunology. 118: 9-17, 2016.
- Kate J. Claycombe, Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey, Rolando Garcia, William Thomas Johnson, Eric Uthus, and James N. Roemmich. Decreased beige adipocyte number and mitochondrial respiration coincide with increased histone methyl transferase (9Ga) and reduced FGF21 gene expression in Sprague Dawley rats fed prenatal low protein and postnatal high fat diets. Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry. 31: 113-121, 2016.
- Kate J. Claycombe, Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey, James N. Roemmich, Othman Ghribi, and Turk Rhen. Maternal low-protein diet causes body weight loss in male, neonate Sprague-Dawley rats involving UCP-1-mediated thermogenesis. Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry. 26 (7): 729-735, 2015.
- Kate J. Claycombe, James N. Roemmich, LuAnn Johnson, Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey, and W. Thomas Johnson. Skeletal muscle Sirt3 expression and mitochondrial respiration are regulated by a prenatal low protein diet. Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry. 26 (2): 184-189, 2015.
Nrf2-antioxidant response element pathway’s role in energy metabolism: The nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) pathway responds to oxidative stress thru control of antioxidant defense gene expressions and it’s through this modulation that Nrf2 also modulates the development of adiposity and adipogenesis. However, little is known of the Nrf2 and its other pathway factors’ expression throughout adipocyte differentiation. We demonstrated that there was a biphasic response of Nrf2 and its regulated protein NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) during adipocyte differentiation that was regulated through Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1) and glycogen synthase kinase-3β-dependent mechanisms, and that hypertrophy is negatively regulated by NQO1 activity. This work will impact the obesity field as obesity is associated with an increase in systemic oxidative stress which plays a role in metabolic syndromes.
- Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey and Matthew J. Picklo, Sr. The Nrf2-Antioxidant Response Element Pathway- A Target for Regulating Energy Metabolism. Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry. 23 (10): 1201-6, 2012.
- Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey and Matthew J. Picklo, Sr. NAD(P)H:quinine oxidoreductase 1 activity reduces hypertrophy in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Free Radical Biology and Medicine. 53 (4): 690-700, 2012.
- Matthew J. Picklo, Sr., Eric K. Long, Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey. Glutathionyl systems and metabolic dysfunction in obesity. Nutrition Reviews. 73(12): 858-868, 2015.
Vasoactive intestinal peptide receptors regulation in T lymphocytes: Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) is delivered by the peripheral nervous system to immune organs and immune respond to the VIP ligand through vasoactive intestinal peptide receptor-1 and -2 (VPAC-1 and -2). VIP acts as an anti-inflammatory mediator and functions in modulation T cell functions and homing. Little work has been done on VIP/VPAC modulation of CD8 T cells. We determined that VPAC1 mRNA and protein was transiently silenced during primary CD8 T cell expansion to Listeria monocytogenes, restored during contraction, but then greatly decreased during a secondary infection and remained low. VPAC2 mRNA was surprisingly undetected during primary and secondary infection. These data will contribute to the field of neuroimmunology by increasing the understanding of the role of VIP and its receptors in immunity.
- Rebecca J. Hermann, Travis Van der Steen, Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey, Sejaa Al-Badrani, Steve B. Wanjara, Jarrett J. Failing, Jodie S. Haring, and Glenn P. Dorsam. Characterization and use of a rabbit-anti-mouse VPAC1 antibody by flow cytometry. Journal of Immunological Methods. 376 (1-2): 20-31, 2012.
- Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey, Jodie S. Haring, and Glenn P. Dorsam. Vasoactive intestinal peptide receptor 1 is downregulated during expansion of antigen-specific CD8 T cells following primary and secondary Listeria monocytogenes infections. Journal of Neuroimmunology. 234 (1-2): 40-48, 2011.
- Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey, Ashley R. Sandy, Jarrett J. Failing, Rebecca J. Hermann, Scott A. Hoselton, Jane M. Schuh, Abby J. Weldon, Kimberly J. Payne, and Glenn P. Dorsam. Radical Reversal of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) receptors during early lymphopoiesis. 32 (10): 2058-2066, 2011.
- Sheri T. Dorsam, Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey, Rebecca J. Hermann, Jodie S. Haring, Travis Van der Steen, Erich Wilkerson, Goran Boskovic, James Denvir, Yulia Dementieva, Donald A. Primerano, Glenn P. Dorsam. Identification of the Early VIP-Regulated Transcriptome and its Associated Interactome in Resting and Activated Murine CD4 T Cells. Molecular Immunology. 47 (6): 1181-1194, 2010.
- Keith D. Benton, Rebecca J. Hermann, Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey, Jodie S. Haring, Travis Van der Steen, John Smith, Sinisa Dovat, Glenn Paul Dorsam. A Transcriptionally Permissive Epigenetic Landscape at the Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide Receptor-1 Promoter Suggests an Euchromatin Nuclear Position in Murine CD4 T Cells. Regulatory Peptides. 158. 68-76, 2009.
- Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey and Glenn P. Dorsam. Stimulatory and Suppressive Signal Transduction Regulates Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide Receptor-1 (VPAC-1) in Primary, Mouse CD4 T Cells. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. 22, 1024-1031, 2008.
- Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey, Rebecca J. Hermann, Megan F. Palmer, Keith Benton, Ashley R. Sandy, Sheri T. Dorsam, and Glenn P. Dorsam. TCR signaling and environment affect vasoactive intestinal peptide receptor-1 (VPAC-1) expression in primary mouse CD4 T cells. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. 22, 1032-1040 2008.
CERTIFICATES
- American Association of Immunologists Advance Immunology Course (August 2012)
- Human IRB Curriculum Completion through the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (October 2021)
- BD FACSCanto II Cytometer Course (November 2014)
- BD Symphony Cytometer Course (March 2018)
PATENTS
Elizabeth Leadbetter, Eyal Amiel, Emilie E. Vomhof-DeKrey, Robert Linhardt, Amanda Weyers, and Jianjun Miao. Nanoparticles for Immune Stimulation. Document type and number: WIPO Patent Application WT/2015/116775; Application # US2015/013441. Publication # WO2015116775 A1, Publication Date: Aug. 6, 2015
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
- Nominated to speak at Graduate Commencement, May 2010.
- Accuri Travel Award for the American Association of Immunologists, Seattle, WA, May 2009.
- James D. Geerdes Memorial Scholarship, Fall 2009
- Highlighted Poster Award at the National IDeA Symposium of Biomedical Research Excellence, Washington, D.C., July 2006.
EDUCATION
Ph.D. | 2005-2010 | North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND
- Major: Biochemistry; Minor: Immunology
Bachelor of Arts | 2001-2005 | Concordia College, Moorhead, MN
- Major: Biology; Minor: Chemistry, Art
- July 2022- present: serving on the IACUC review committee
- 2017-present: Girl Scout Troop leader