Björn conducted his B.Sc. studies in Luebeck, Germany and his M.Sc. studies in London, England. After backpacking in South America, Björn then moved to Montreal, Canada, where he did his Ph.D. at McGill University. For his doctoral research at the McGill AIDS Center, Björn investigated the interrelation of host cell restriction factor tetherin and its HIV-1 antagonist Vpu in direct cell-to-cell transmission in CD4+ T-cells. In July 2011, Björn joined the Streeck lab as a postdoctoral fellow. His major research focuses on T follicular helper cells and their role in stimulating activation-induced deaminase during B-cell response to HIV-1 infection.
Publications
Kuhl BD, Sloan RD, Donahue DA, Liang C, Wainberg MA. Vpu-mediated tetherin antagonism of ongoing HIV-1 infection in CD4(+) T-cells is not directly related to the extent of tetherin cell surface downmodulation. 2011 Sep 1;417(2):353-61.
Kuhl BD, Chen V, Wainberg MA, Liang C. Tetherin and its viral antagonists. J Neuroimmune Pharmacol. 2011 Jun 6(2):188-201.
Sloan RD, Kuhl BD, Donahue DA, Roland A, Bar-Magen T, Wainberg MA. Transcription of preintegrated HIV-1 cDNA modulates cell surface expression of major histocompatibility complex class I via Nef. J Virol. 2011 Mar 85;6:(2828-35).
Kuhl BD, Sloan RD, Donahue DA, Bar-Magen T, Liang C, Wainberg MA. Tetherin restricts direct cell-to-cell infection of HIV-1. Retrovirology. 2010 Dec 24;7:115.
Bar-Magen T, Donahue DA, McDonough EI, Kuhl BD, Faltenbacher VH, Xu H, Michaud V, Sloan RD, Wainberg MA. HIV-1 subtype B and C integrase enzymes exhibit differential patterns of resistance to integrase inhibitors in biochemical assays. AIDS. 2010 Sep 10;24(14):2171-9.
Kuhl BD, Sloan RD, Donahue DA, Bar-Magen T, Liang C, Wainberg MA. Neither ritonavir nor darunavir affect cell surface expression of tetherin or Vpu-mediated tetherin down-modulation. AIDS. 2010 Jul 31;24(12):1970-2.
Bar-Magen T, Sloan RD, Donahue DA, Kuhl BD, Zabeida A, Xu H, Oliveira M, Hazuda DJ, Wainberg MA. Identification of novel mutations responsible for resistance to MK-2048, a second-generation HIV-1 integrase inhibitor. J Virol. 2010 Sep;84(18):9210-6.
Sloan RD, Donahue DA, Kuhl BD, Bar-Magen T, Wainberg MA. Expression of Nef from unintegrated HIV-1 DNA downregulates cell surface CXCR4 and CCR5 on T-lymphocytes. Retrovirology. 2010 May 13;7:44.
Donahue DA, Sloan RD, Kuhl BD, Bar-Magen T, Schader SM, Wainberg MA. Stage-dependent inhibition of HIV-1 replication by antiretroviral drugs in cell culture. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2010 Mar;54(3):1047-54.
Bar-Magen T, Sloan RD, Faltenbacher VH, Donahue DA, Kuhl BD, Oliveira M, Xu H, Wainberg MA. Comparative biochemical analysis of HIV-1 subtype B and C integrase enzymes. Retrovirology. 2009 Nov 11;6:103.
Presentations and Posters
Tetherin restricts direct cell-cell transfer and transmission of HIV-1 Oral presentation at IAS Workshop “Towards a Cure: Viral Reservoirs and how to control them” and at XVIII International AIDS Conference, Vienna, Austria, 2010
Tetherin restricts direct cell-cell transfer of HIV-1 and is antagonized by Vpu Poster at Centennial Retrovirus Meeting, Prague, Czech Republic, 2010
Vpu-mediated modulation of cell surface tetherin has a variable influence on virus release and ongoing infection in T-cell lines Poster at Cold Spring Harbor Meeting on Retroviruses, Cold Spring, USA, 2011
Antiviral activity of tetherin in ongoing HIV-1 infections in T-cells Poster at 6th IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention, Rome, Italy, 2011
Contact: bkuhl@partners.org