About the Authors

Antonio DiGiandomenico

Contributed equally to this work with: Antonio DiGiandomenico, Ruth Ann Veach, Jozef Zienkiewicz

Current address: MedImmune, LLC, Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States of America

Affiliation Department of Microbiology and Immunology Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America

Ruth Ann Veach

Contributed equally to this work with: Antonio DiGiandomenico, Ruth Ann Veach, Jozef Zienkiewicz

Affiliations Immunotherapy Program at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America, Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America

Jozef Zienkiewicz

Contributed equally to this work with: Antonio DiGiandomenico, Ruth Ann Veach, Jozef Zienkiewicz

Affiliations Immunotherapy Program at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America, Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America

Daniel J. Moore

Affiliations Immunotherapy Program at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America, Department of Pediatrics, Ian Burr Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America

Lukasz S. Wylezinski

Affiliations Immunotherapy Program at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America, Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America

Martha A. Hutchens

Current address: School of Biological Sciences, Lake Superior State University, Sault Sainte Marie, Minnesota, United States of America

Affiliations Department of Microbiology and Immunology Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America, Immunotherapy Program at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America

Jacek Hawiger

jacek.hawiger@vanderbilt.edu

Affiliations Immunotherapy Program at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America, Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America, Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America

Competing Interests

JH, RAV, and JZ are co-inventors of patents relating to cell-penetrating NTM peptides and their use for anti-inflammatory therapy. All rights are assigned to Vanderbilt University. JH is co-founder and shareholder of AGH Therapeutics, Inc. This does not alter the authors' adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. The authors have no other financial conflicts of interest relating to the subject matter or materials discussed in this article. All work performed by AD was completed during his post-doctoral training at Vanderbilt University prior to and not related to his current employment at MedImmune.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: AD RAV JZ JH. Performed the experiments: AD RAV JZ DJM LSW MAH. Analyzed the data: AD RAV JZ JH. Contributed to the writing of the manuscript: AD RAV JZ JH.