Damian J. Krysan, M.D., Ph.D.

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Contact

University of Rochester
School of Medicine and Dentistry
601 Elmwood Ave, Box 850
Rochester, New York 14642

Office: 585 275-9729

Lab: 585 275-6814

Fax: 585 273-1104

Dr. Krysan's research interests are:

1) Fungal Cell Wall Biology

2) High Throughput Screening for Antifungal Drugs.

The clinical importance of invasive, life-threatening fungal infections continues to increase as more and more patients are living with compromised immunity. At this time, therapeutic options for the treatment of invasive fungal infections are quite limited, particularly when compared with those available for the treatment of serious bacterial infections. My laboratory is interested in understanding yeast cell wall biosynthesis with the ultimate goal of identifying new cell wall-specific antifungal drug targets.

Currently, Dr. Kryan's lab is focused on studying the role of the yapsins, a family of aspartyl proteases, in the maintenance of cell wall integrity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Previously, they have shown that the yapsins, and homologues in pathogenic Candida spp., are required for the yeast cell to withstand cell wall stress (1). They have found that this is due in part to the fact that the yapsins are involved in the homeostasis of cell wall glucan, one of the most important structural components of the cell wall and the target of the newest antifungal drug (caspofungin). Indeed, they have determined that increased levels of yapsin expression induced resistance to caspofungin, underscoring the importance of this family of proteases in cell wall construction.

Dr. Krysan's laboratory uses a variety of genetic, biochemical and cell biological techniques to study the biology of the yapsins and their Candida spp. homologues. Their specific goals are to: 1) identify yapsin substrates involved in cell wall biosynthesis; 2) explore other processes dependant on yapsin function; and 3) elucidate the function of Candida homologues of the yapsins.

Specialty

Infectious Diseases

Current Appointments

Education
MD Medicine University of Michigan Medical School 2000
PhD Organic Chemistry Northwestern University 1989
BA Chemistry Grinnell College 1984
Post-Doctoral Training & Residency
Pediatric Infectious Diseases Fellowship, University of Michigan, C.S. Mott Hospital, Ann Arbor, MI 2002 - 2005
Residency in Pediatrics, C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 2000 - 2002
Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (Organic Chemistry), Department of Chemistry, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 1989 - 1991
Fellowship Awards
Infectious Disease Society of America Fellowship in Medical Mycology (Awarded) 2003
Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society Fellowship 2003
Board Certifications
American Board of Pediatrics, Pediatric Infectious Diseases 2007 - 2014
American Board of Pediatrics 2005 - Present
Recent Journal Articles
Showing the 5 most recent journal articles. (30 available)
Wellington M; Dolan K; Krysan DJ. "Live Candida albicans suppresses production of reactive oxygen species in phagocytes." Infect Immun 77 (2009): 405-13.
Scrimale T; DiDone L; de Mesy Bentley KL; Krysan DJ. "The unfolded protein response is induced by the cell wall integrity mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling cascade and is required for cell wall integrity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae." Molec Biol Cell 20 (2009): 164-75.
Dolan K; Montgomery S; Bucchiet B; Didone L; Wellington M; Krysan DJ. "The antifungal activity of tamoxifen: in vitro, in vivo and mechanistic characterization." Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy. 2009; Epub 2009 Jun 01.
Ma J; Dobry CJ; Krysan DJ; Kumar A. "An unconventional genomic architecture in the budding yeast masks the nested antisense gene NAG1." Eukaryot Cell 7 (2008): 1289-98.
Vadaie N.; Dionne H.; Nickerson SR; Akajagbor DS; Krysan DJ; Cullen PJ. "Cleavage-dependent activation of a signaling mucin in yeast." J Cell Biol 181 (2008): 1073-81.