Research Topics
Department of Veterinary Pathobiology
Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Postdoc., Johns Hopkins University
Research Topics
Research Interests
Specific recognition and adhesion of pathogenic microbes to the eucaryotic host cell surface is a requisite initial event of most infectious disease processes. Many, if not most, pathogenic microbes, exploit host cell glycoconjugates as recognition markers. Deciphering the chemical nature of the recognition epitopes of these molecules should lead to the development of new "receptor therapy" drugs aimed at blocking the initial adhesive event between pathogen and host cell. Receptor therapy may be especially efficacious for enteric infectious diseases since the intestinal tract, in contrast to other tissue sites such as blood, is open to the environment. Pathogens not able to bind to enterocytes as a consequence of binding orally administered, soluble receptor analogues would be removed from the intestine by normal excretion and thus would no longer participate in parasite-host cell binding equilibria. It is likely, therefore, that soluble receptors or receptor mimics will be able to reduce parasite loads in infected individuals and act as a prophylactic agent in at-risk individuals. Using novel in vitro and in vivo binding assays we have identified a specific intestinal ganglioside that functions as a Group A rotavirus receptor and is capable of blocking viral binding and host cell infectivity. Using similar methodology we are also studying the mechanism of enterocyte recognition by Cryptosporidiium parvum, a waterborn protozoal parasite causing serious diarrhea disease and often seen as a secondary pathogen in AIDS patients.
Key Words Disease Models, Virology, Animal Cell and/or tissue Culture,
Pharmaceuticals, Host/Parasite Interactions, Membrane Structure and Function,
Protein Purification and Characterization, Active Sites and Receptors, Structural
Biology, Complex Carbohydrates