Prof Karl Staples
BSc(Hons) PhD CBiol FRSB FHEA
Professor of Respiratory Immunology & Pharmacology
NIHR Southampton BRC Academic Career Development Lead
K.Staples@southampton.ac.uk (PA: Corrine Hughes, C.M.Hughes@southampton.ac.uk)
Karl Staples is a Professor at the University of Southampton and the NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre Academic Career Development Lead.. His research focuses on host-pathogen interactions in chronic inflammatory airways diseases, such as asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), and the contribution of these interactions to exacerbations of these respiratory conditions.
To study these interactions, he has developed novel ex vivo models of bacterial and viral infection using human lung cells and tissue. He co-leads the Allergic Airways Disease Module on the MSc in Allergy and teaches Pharmacology to students on the University Bachelor of Medicine Programmes.
Landmark publications:
Cooper, GE, Mayall, J, Donovan, C, Haw, TJ, Budden, KF, Hansbro, NG, Blomme, EE, Maes, T, Kong, CW, Horvat, JC, Khakoo, SI, Wilkinson, TMA, Hansbro, PM, Staples KJ* (2022) Anti-viral responses of tissue-resident CD49a+ lung NK cells are dysregulated in COPD. Am J Resp Crit Care Med doi: 10.1164/rccm.202205-0848OC
Ackland, J, Barber, C, Heinson, A, Azim, A, Cleary DW, Christodoulides, M, Kurukulaaratchy, RJ, Howarth P, Wilkinson, TM, Staples, KJ* (2022) NTHi infection of pulmonary macrophages drives neutrophilic inflammation in severe asthma. Allergy. 77(10) 2961-2973 doi:10.1111/all.15375
Ackland, J, Heinson, AI, Cleary DW, Christodoulides, M, Wilkinson, TM, Staples, KJ* (2021) Dual RNASeq reveals NTHi-macrophage transcriptomic changes during intracellular persistence. Front. Cell Infect. Micro. 11: 723481. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.723481
Watson A, Öberg L, Angermann B, Spalluto CM, Hühn M, Burke H, Cellura D, Freeman A, Muthas D, Etal D, Belfield G, Karlsson F, Nordström K, Ostridge K, Staples KJ, Wilkinson T (2021) Dysregulation of COVID-19 related gene expression in the COPD lung. Respir Res. 22(1):164. doi: 10.1186/s12931-021-01755-3.
Day, K, Ostridge, K, Conway, J, Cellura, D, Watson, A, Spalluto, CM, Staples, KJ, Thompson, B, Wilkinson, T (2021) Interrelationships between small airways dysfunction, neutrophilic inflammation and exacerbation frequency in COPD. Chest 159(4): 1391-1399 doi: 10.1016/j.chest.2020.11.018.
Burke, H, Freeman, A, Cellura, DC Stuart, BL, Brendish, NJ, Poole, S, Borca, F, Phan HTT, Sheard, N, Williams, S, Spalluto, CM, Staples, KJ, Clark, TW, Wilkinson, TMA (2020) Inflammatory phenotyping predicts clinical outcome in COVID-19. Resp. Res 21(1):245. doi: 10.1186/s12931-020-01511-z
Watson, A, Spalluto, CM, McCrae, C, Cellura, D, Burke, H, Cunoosamy, D, Freeman, A, Hicks, A, Huhn, M, Ostridge, K, Staples, KJ, Vaarala, O, Wilkinson T (2020) Dynamics of IFN-β responses during respiratory viral infection: insights for therapeutic strategies Am J Resp Crit Care Med 201(1) 83-94 doi: 10.1164/rccm.201901-0214OC
Staples, KJ*, Williams, NP, Bonduelle O, Hutton AJ, Cellura, D, Combadière, B, Wilkinson TMA (2019) Acquired immune responses to the seasonal trivalent influenza vaccination in COPD. Clin Exp Immunol 198(1) 71-82 doi: 10.1111/cei.13336
Cooper GE, Ostridge K, Khakoo, SI, Wilkinson, TMA, Staples KJ* (2018) Human CD49a+ lung NK cell cytotoxicity in response to Influenza A Virus. Front Immunol 9: 1671 doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.01671
Wallington, JC, Williams, AP, Staples, KJ*, Wilkinson, TMA (2018) IL-12 and IL-7 synergise to control MAIT cell cytotoxic responses to bacterial infection. J Allergy Clin Immunol 141(6), 2182-2195
Wilkinson, TMA, Aris, E, Bourne, S, Clarke, SC, Peeters, M, Pascal, TG, Schoonbroodt, S, Tuck, A, Kim, V, Ostridge, K, Staples, KJ, Williams, N, Williams, AP, Wootton, S, Devaster, JM (2017) A prospective, observational cohort study of the seasonal dynamics of airway pathogens in the aetiology of exacerbations in COPD. Thorax 72(10), 919-927
Staples, KJ*, Taylor, S, Thomas, S, Leung, S, Cox, K, Pascal, TG, Ostridge, K, Welch, L, Tuck, AC, Clarke, SC, Gorringe, A, Wilkinson, TMA (2016) Relationships between mucosal antibodies, non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) colonisation and airway inflammation in COPD. PLoS ONE 11(11), e0167250
Cooper, GE, Pounce, ZC, Bastidas-Legarda, LY, Wallington, JC, Nicholas, B, Robinson, EC, Martin, K, Tocheva, AS, Christodoulides, M, Djukanović, R, Wilkinson, TMA, Staples, KJ*. (2016) Viral inhibition of bacterial phagocytosis by human macrophages: redundant role of CD36. PLoS ONE 11(10), e0163889
Hinks, TSC, Wallington JC, Williams, AP, Djukanović, R, Staples, KJ*, Wilkinson TMA (2016) Steroid-induced deficiency of mucosal-associated invariant T cells in the COPD lung: implications for NTHi infection. Am J Resp Crit Care Med 194(10), 1208-1218
McKendry, RT, Spalluto, CM, Burke, H, Nicholas, BL, Cellura, D, Al-Shamkhani, A, Staples, KJ, Wilkinson TMA(2016) Dysregulation of anti-viral function of CD8+T cells in the COPD lung: role of the PD1/PDL1 axis. Am J Resp Crit Care Med 193(6), 642-651
Staples, KJ*, Nicholas, B, McKendry, RT, Spalluto, CM, Wallington, JC, Bragg, CW, Robinson, EC, Martin, K, Djukanović, R Wilkinson, TM (2015). Viral infection of human lung macrophages increases PDL1 expression via autologous IFNb. PLoS ONE 10(3), e0121527
Staples, KJ*, Hinks, TSC, Ward, JA, Gunn, V, Smith, C, Djukanović, R (2012) Phenotypic characterisation of lung macrophages in asthma: overexpression of CCL17. J Allergy Clin Immunol 130(6), 1404-1412
Wilkinson, T, Li, CKF, Chui. CSC, Huang, AKY, Perkins, M, Liebner, JC, Lambkin Williams, R, Gilbert, A, Oxford, J, Nicholas, B, Staples, KJ, Douek, DC, McMichael, AJ, Xu, X (2012) Pre-existing influenza-specific CD4+ T cells correlate with disease protection against influenza challenge in humans. Nature Med. 18(2), 274-280
Major grants:
Major collaborations with GSK and AstraZeneca and awards from NIHR and Asthma UK.