Post. Doc. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Ph.D. Wright State University, Dayton, OH

M.S. Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, MI

B.Sc. University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria

Our research is focused on understanding the mechanisms of virus-host cell interactions and virus evolution with the ultimate goal of developing antivirals.

We currently study two groups of viruses that cause respiratory disease (adenoviruses, coronaviruses and influenza viruses) and diarrheal disease (astroviruses, noroviruses and sapoviruses).

Please direct your inquiries to ola.kolawole@wright.edu if you are interested in joining our lab as a postdoc or student.

1. Mirabelli C, Jones MK, Young VL, Kolawole AO, Owusu I, Shan M, Abuaita B, Turula H, Trevino JG, Grigorova I, Lundy SK, Lyssiotis CA, Ward VK, Karst SM, Wobus CE. Human norovirus triggers primary B cell immune activation in vitro. mBio 2022 Apr; 13(2):e0017522. PMID: 35404121 PMCID: PMC9040803
2. Excoffon KJDA, Avila CL, Alghamri MS, Kolawole AO. The magic of MAGI-1: A scaffolding protein with multi signalosomes and functional plasticity. Biol Cell. 2022 Apr. PMID: 35389514
3. Kotha Lakshmi Narayan P, Readler JM, Alghamri MS, Brockma TL, Yan R, Sharma P, Snitsarev V, Excoffon KJDA, Kolawole AO. The Coxsackievirus and Adenovirus Receptor Has a Short Half-Life in Epithelial Cells. Pathogens 2022 Jan; 11(2), 173. PMID: 35215116
4. Readler JM, Burke MR, Sharma P, Excoffon KJDA, Kolawole AO. Adenovirus Co-Opts Neutrophilic Inflammation to Enhance Transduction of Epithelial Cells. Viruses 2022 Jan; 14(1): 13. PMID: 35062217
5. Alghamri MS, Sharma P, Williamson TL, Readler JM, Yan R, Rider SD Jr, Hostetler HA, Cool DR, Kolawole AO, Excoffon KJDA. MAGI-1 PDZ2 domain blockade averts adenovirus infection via enhanced proteolysis of the apical coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor. J Virol. 2021 June 10;95(13): e00046-21. PMID: 33762416
6. Davis A, Cortez V, Grodzki M, Dallas R, Ferrolino J, Freiden P, Maron G, Hakim H, Hayden RT, Tang L, Huys A, Kolawole AO, Wobus CE, Jones MK, Karst SM, Schultz-Cherry S: Infectious Norovirus Is Chronically Shed by Immunocompromised Pediatric Hosts. Viruses 12(6): 1, 2020. PM32516960
7. Graziano VR, Walker FC, Kennedy EA, Wei J, Ettayebi K, Strine MS, Filler RB, Hassan E, Hsieh LL, Kim AS, Kolawole AO, Wobus CE, Lindesmith LC, Baric RS, Estes MK, Orchard RC, Baldridge MT, Wilen CB: CD300lf is the primary physiologic receptor of murine norovirus but not human norovirus. PLoS Pathog 16(4): e1008242, 2020. PM32251490
8. Readler JM, AlKahlout AS, Kolawole AO, Excoffon KJDA: Production of isoform-specific knockdown /knockout Madin-Darby canine kidney epithelial cells using CRISPR/Cas9. MethodsX 7: 101149, 2020. PM33304833/PMC7718483
9. Oda H*, Kolawole AO*, Mirabelli C, Wakabayashi H, Tanaka M, Yamauchi K, Abe F, Wobus CE *Co-first author: Antiviral Effects of Bovine Lactoferrin on Human Norovirus. Biochem Cell Biol. 2021 Feb;99(1):166-172. Epub 2020 Apr 29.PMID: 32348689
10. Kolawole AO, Wobus CE: Gastrointestinal organoid technology advances studies of enteric virus biology. PLoS Pathog 16(1): e1008212, 2020. PM31999791
11. Owusu IA, Mirabelli C, Kolawole AO: Intestinal enteroid culture for human astroviruses Bio-protocol 10 (14): 1, 2020.
12. Passalacqua KD, Lu J, Goodfellow I, Kolawole AO, Arche JR, Maddox RJ, Carnahan KE, O'Riordan MXD, Wobus CE: Glycolysis is an intrinsic factor for optimal replication of a norovirus. MBio 10(2): x, 2019. PM30862747
13. Kolawole AO, Mirabelli C, Hill DR, Svoboda SA, Janowski AB, Passalacqua KD, Rodriguez BN, Dame MK, Freiden P, Berger RP, Vu DL, Hosmillo M, O'Riordan MXD, Schultz-Cherry S, Guix S, Spence JR, Wang D, Wobus CE: Astrovirus replication in human intestinal enteroids reveals multi-cellular tropism and an intricate host innate immune landscape. PLoS Pathog 15(10): e1008057, 2019. PM31671153
14. Rotem A, Serohijos AWR, Chang CB, Wolfe JT, Fischer AE, Mehoke TS, Zhang H, Tao Y, Ung WL, Choi JM, Rodrigues JV, Kolawole AO, Koehler SA, Wu S, Thielen PM, Cui N, Demirev PA, Giacobbi NS, Julian TR, Schwab K, Lin JS, Smith TJ, Pipas JM, Wobus CE, Feldman AB, Weitz DA, Shakhnovich EI: Evolution on the biophysical fitness landscape of an RNA virus. Mol Biol Evol 35(10): 2390-2400, 2018. PM29955873
15. Bartnicki E, Cunha JB, Kolawole AO, Wobus CE: Recent advances in understanding noroviruses. F1000Res 6: 79, 2017. PM28163914
16. Kolawole AO, Smith HQ, Svoboda SA, Lewis MS, Sherman MB, Lynch GC, Pettitt BM, Smith TJ, Wobus CE: Norovirus escape from broadly neutralizing antibodies is limited to allostery-like mechanisms. mSphere 2(5): 11, 2017. PM29062895/PMC5646240
17. Julian TR, Baugher JD, Rippinger CM, Pinekenstein R, Kolawole AO, Mehoke TS, Wobus CE, Feldman AB, Pineda FJ, Schwab KJ: Murine norovirus (MNV-1) exposure in vitro to the purine nucleoside analog Ribavirin increases quasispecies diversity. Virus Res 211: 165-73, 2016. PM26494169
18. Rocha-Pereira J, Kolawole AO, Verbeken E, Wobus CE, Neyts J: Post-exposure antiviral treatment of norovirus infections effectively protects against diarrhea and reduces virus shedding in the stool in a mortality mouse model. Antiviral Res 132: 76-84, 2016. PM27252124
19. Kolawole AO, Rocha-Pereira J, Elftman MD, Neyts J, Wobus CE: Inhibition of human norovirus by a viral polymerase inhibitor in the B cell culture system and in the mouse model. Antiviral Res 132: 46-49, 2016. PM27210811
20. Kolawole AO, Gonzalez-Hernandez MB, Turula H, Yu C, Elftman MD, Wobus CE: Oral norovirus infection is blocked in mice lacking Peyer's patches and mature M cells. J Virol 90(3): 1499-506, 2015. PM26581993
21. Tao Y, Rotem A, Zhang H, Chang CB, Basu A, Kolawole AO, Koehler SA, Ren Y, Lin JS, Pipas JM, Feldman AB, Wobus CE, Weitz DA: Rapid, targeted and culture-free viral infectivity assay in drop-based microfluidics. Lab Chip 15(19): 3934-40, 2015. PM26304791
22. Fischer AE, Wu SK, Proescher JB, Rotem A, Chang CB, Zhang H, Tao Y, Mehoke TS, Thielen PM, Kolawole AO, Smith TJ, Wobus CE, Weitz DA, Lin JS, Feldman AB, Wolfe JT: A high-throughput drop microfluidic system for virus culture and analysis. J Virol Methods 213: 111-7, 2015. PM25522923
23. Kolawole AO, Xia C, Li M, Gamez M, Yu C, Rippinger CM, Yucha RE, Smith TJ, Wobus CE: Newly isolated mAbs broaden the neutralizing epitope in murine norovirus J. Gen. Virol. 95(PART 9): 1958- 1968, 2014. PM24899153
24. Kolawole AO, Li M, Xia C, Fischer AE, Giacobbi NS, Rippinger CM, Proescher JB, Wu SK, Bessling SL, Gamez M, Yu C, Zhang R, Mehoke TS, Pipas JM, Wolfe JT, Lin JS, Feldman AB, Smith TJ, Wobus CE: Flexibility in surface-exposed loops in a virus capsid mediates escape from antibody neutralization J. Virol. 88(8): 4543-4557, 2014. PM24501415
25. Hwang S, Alhatlani B, Arias A, Caddy SL, Christodoulou C, Cunha JB, Emmott E, Gonzalez-Hernandez M, Kolawole A, Lu J, Rippinger C, Sorgeloos F, Thorne L, Vashist S, Goodfellow I, Wobus CE: Murine norovirus: propagation, quantification, and genetic manipulation. Curr Protoc Microbiol 33: 15K.2.1-15K. 2.61, 2014. PM24789596/PMC4074558
26. Kotha PL, Sharma P, Kolawole AO, Yan R, Alghamri MS, Brockman TL, Gomez-Cambronero J, Excoffon KJ: Adenovirus entry from the apical surface of polarized epithelia is facilitated by the host innate immune response. PLoS Pathog 11(3): e1004696, 2015. PM25768646/PMC4358923
27. Jones MK, Grau KR, Costantini V, Kolawole AO, de Graaf M, Freiden P, Graves CL, Koopmans M, Wallet SM, Tibbetts SA, Schultz-Cherry S, Wobus CE, Vinjé J, Karst SM: Human norovirus culture in B cells. Nat Protoc 10(12): 1939-47, 2015. PM26513671/PMC4689599
28. Zhang H, Cockrell SK, Kolawole AO, Rotem A, Serohijos AW, Chang CB, Tao Y, Mehoke TS, Han Y, Lin JS, Giacobbi NS, Feldman AB, Shakhnovich E, Weitz DA, Wobus CE, Pipas JM: Isolation and analysis of rare norovirus recombinants from coinfected mice using drop-based microfluidics. J Virol 89(15): 7722-34, 2015. PM25972549/PMC4505660
29. Chéron N, Yu C, Kolawole AO, Shakhnovich EI, Wobus CE: Repurposing of rutin for the inhibition of norovirus replication. Arch Virol 160(9): 2353-8, 2015. PM26112762
30. Yan R, Sharma P, Kolawole AO, Martin SC, Readler JM, Kotha PL, Hostetler HA, Excoffon KJ: The PDZ3 domain of the cellular scaffolding protein MAGI-1 interacts with the Coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor (CAR). Int J Biochem Cell Biol 61: 29-34, 2015. PM25622559/PMC4359947
31. Taube S*, Kolawole AO*, Höhne M, Wilkinson JE, Handley SA, Perry JW, Thackray LB, Akkina R, Wobus CE *Co-first author: A mouse model for human norovirus MBio 4(4): x, 2013. PM23860770
32. Kolawole AO, Sharma P, Yan R, Lewis KJ, Xu Z, Hostetler HA, Ashbourne Excoffon KJ: The PDZ1 and PDZ3 domains of MAGI-1 regulate the eight-exon isoform of the coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor J. Virol. 86(17): 9244-9254, 2012. PM22718816
33. Sharma P, Kolawole AO, Wiltshire SM, Frondorf K, Excoffon KJ: Accessibility of the coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor and its importance in adenovirus gene transduction efficiency J. Gen. Virol. 93(1): 155-158, 2012. PM21918008
34. Excoffon KJ, Kolawole AO, Kusama N, Gansemer ND, Sharma P, Hruska-Hageman AM, Petroff E, Benson CJ: Coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor (CAR) mediates trafficking of acid sensing ion channel 3 (ASIC3) via PSD-95 Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 425(1): 13-18, 2012. PM22809504
35. Sharma P, Kolawole AO, Core SB, Kajon AE, Excoffon KJ: Sidestream smoke exposure increases the susceptibility of airway epithelia to adenoviral infection PLoS ONE 7(11): x, 2012. PM23166798

American Society for Cell Biology

American Association of Immunologists

American Society for Microbiology

American Society for Virology