About

Margherita Cantorna is a Distinguished Professor of Molecular Immunology and the Director of the Center for Molecular Immunology and Infectious Disease at The Huck Institutes. She specializes in understanding the workings of the immune system, utilizing animal models of human diseases such as enteric infections and inflammatory bowel disease to identify cellular targets and molecular signals by which dietary components regulate immunity. Her research focuses on the roles of vitamin D and vitamin A in immune regulation, gut microbiota, and mucosal immune responses, with particular attention to how these vitamins influence immune cell function, microbial interactions, and disease outcomes. She is also involved in exploring the impact of vitamin D on COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, contributing to the scientific understanding of vitamin D's role in immune health.

Research topics

• Biology
• Cell biology
• Immunology
• Internal medicine
• Medicine
• Virology
• Molecular biology
• Endocrinology

Selected publications

• 40 years later: Why do immune cells have vitamin D receptors?

  The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology · 2026-02-26

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Developmental Vitamin D Deficiency and the Vitamin D Receptor Control Hematopoiesis

  The Journal of Immunology · 2024-09-25 · 5 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Vitamin D status, the vitamin D receptor (VDR), and the ability to produce active vitamin D [1,25(OH)2D, regulated by Cyp27b1] regulate fetal and adult hematopoiesis. Transgenic reporter mice that express the tdTomato RFP as an indication of Vdr expression were used to identify immune cells that express the Vdr. Vdr/tdTomato+ hematopoietic progenitors were identified as early as embryonic day (E)15.5, establishing that these cells have expressed the Vdr and are vitamin D targets. Maternal vitamin D deficiency [D-; serum 25(OH)D < 20 ng/ml] or Vdr knockout or Cyp27b1 knockout resulted in embryos with fewer fetal progenitors. Vdr/tdTomato+ expression was found to increase with age in CD8+ T cells and innate lymphoid cells (ILCs)1 and ILC3, suggesting that initial Vdr expression in these cells is dependent on environmental factors immediately postbirth. In adult tissues, the frequencies of mature T cells and ILCs as well as Vdr/tdTomato expression were reduced by D-. Maternal D- resulted in fewer progenitors that expressed Vdr/tdTomato+ at E15.5 and fewer Vdr/tdTomato+ immune cells in the adult spleen than offspring from D+ mice. We challenged D- mice with H1N1 influenza infection and found that D- mice were more susceptible than D+ mice. Treating D- mice with vitamin D restored Vdr/tdTomato+ expression in splenic T cells and partially restored resistance to H1N1 infection, which shows that developmental D- results in lingering effects on Vdr expression in the adult immune system that compromise the immune response to H1N1 infection. Vitamin D and the Vdr regulate hematopoiesis in both fetal and postnatal phases of immune cell development that impact the immune response to a viral infection.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Highlights from the 24th workshop on vitamin D in Austin, September 2022

  The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology · 2023-01-10 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Two lineages of immune cells that differentially express the vitamin D receptor

  The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology · 2023-01-16 · 27 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Vitamin D, microbiota, and inflammatory bowel disease

  Elsevier eBooks · 2023-11-03

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• List of contributors

  Elsevier eBooks · 2023-11-03

  book-chapter
  PublisherDOI

• List of contributors

  Elsevier eBooks · 2023-11-03

  book-chapter
  PublisherDOI

• Two Lineages of Immune Cells that Differentially Express the Vitamin D Receptor

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2022-01-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• CCL27 is a crucial regulator of immune homeostasis of the skin and mucosal tissues

  iScience · 2022 · 35 citations

  • Biology
  • Cell biology
  • Immunology

  T cells into lungs and reproductive tracts, the latter of which also exhibit spontaneous inflammation. Our findings demonstrate that CCL27 is critical for immune homeostasis across barrier tissues.

  PublisherDOI

• Transcriptional Profiling of the Small Intestine and the Colon Reveals Modulation of Gut Infection with Citrobacter rodentium According to the Vitamin A Status

  Nutrients · 2022-04-08 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access

  Vitamin A (VA) deficiency and diarrheal diseases are both serious public health issues worldwide. VA deficiency is associated with impaired intestinal barrier function and increased risk of mucosal infection-related mortality. The bioactive form of VA, retinoic acid, is a well-known regulator of mucosal integrity. Using Citrobacter rodentium-infected mice as a model for diarrheal diseases in humans, previous studies showed that VA-deficient (VAD) mice failed to clear C. rodentium as compared to their VA-sufficient (VAS) counterparts. However, the distinct intestinal gene responses that are dependent on the host’s VA status still need to be discovered. The mRNAs extracted from the small intestine (SI) and the colon were sequenced and analyzed on three levels: differential gene expression, enrichment, and co-expression. C. rodentium infection interacted differentially with VA status to alter colon gene expression. Novel functional categories downregulated by this pathogen were identified, highlighted by genes related to the metabolism of VA, vitamin D, and ion transport, including improper upregulation of Cl− secretion and disrupted HCO3− metabolism. Our results suggest that derangement of micronutrient metabolism and ion transport, together with the compromised immune responses in VAD hosts, may be responsible for the higher mortality to C. rodentium under conditions of inadequate VA.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Vitamin A mediated protection from gastrointestinal infection

  NIH · $477k · 2015–2017

• NIH Grant R01NS067563

  NIH · $1.5M · 2016

• NIH Grant R01DK070781

  NIH · $717k · 2010

• NIH Grant R01NS038888

  NIH · $851k · 2006

• Vitamin D Fluctuations and the Mucosal Immune Response

  NIH · $4.1M · 2009–2023

Frequent coauthors

• Veronika Weaver

  Pennsylvania State University

  27 shared

• Colleen E. Hayes

  University of Wisconsin–Madison

  23 shared

• Hector F. DeLuca

  University of Wisconsin–Madison

  23 shared

• Danny Bruce

  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  22 shared

• Sanhong Yu

  Yale University

  19 shared

• Yuan Tian

  Pennsylvania State University

  19 shared

• Anna Y. Belorusova

  Université de Strasbourg

  16 shared

• Juhi Arora

  Henry M. Jackson Foundation

  15 shared

Labs

• Cantorna LabPI