Faculty Profile :

Abdu Azad, Ph.D.
Professor

Department of Microbiology and Immunology
School of Medicine

410-706-3335

aazad@umaryland.edu

Research

The ongoing research in my laboratory is focused on two major projects. The first project is to understand the molecular basis of rickettsial pathogenesis. In particular, our research is focused on pathogenic rickettsiae such as Rickettsia typhi, the agent of murine typhus, R. prowazekii, the agent of louse-borne typhus, and R. rickettsii, the agent of Rocky Mountain spotted fever. In addition to their importance as a human pathogen, the obligate intracellular existence of these bacteria in both mammalian and invertebrate hosts has emerged as an excellent model system for the study of complex host-parasite interactions. Our long-term goal is to assess the importance of rickettsial genes encoding virulence-associated proteins and their use in immunoprotection against pathogenic rickettsiae. Both conventional and molecular approaches are used to elucidate mechanisms underlying rickettsial pathogenesis. The second project is focused on the biology and immunology of malaria parasite liver-stages. There are 270 million new cases of malaria each year and malaria alone kills more than one million people a year, mostly children. The major objectives of our research are to identify Plasmodium genes in the infected hepatocytes, which are expressed early after infection, and shut off during the blood-stage cycle. The research involves the isolation of human and rodent Plasmodium liver stage schizonts by Laser-capture microdissection for the generation of parasite cDNA library and microarray analysis. Although parasite antigen discovery is our main focus, in collaboration with the CDC and NIH we have been pursuing novel strategies of disease control by identifying mosquito gut proteins that could be selected as transmission-blocking vaccines.

Publications

Gaywee, J, Xu, W. L., Radulovic, S., Bessman, M. J. and Azad, A. F. 2002. The Rickettsia prowazekii Invasion Gene Homolog (invA) Encodes a Nudix Hydrolase Active on Adenosine (5')-pentaphospho-(5')-adenosine (Ap5A). Molecular and Cellular Proteomics 1.3: 179-185.

Rahman, M.S., J. A. Simser, K. R. Macaluso & Azad, A. F. 2003. Molecular and Functional Analysis of lepB Gene Encoding a Type I Signal Peptidase from Rickettsia rickettsii and Rickettsia typhi. J. Bacteriol 185:4578-4584.

Mulenga, A., K., R. Macaluso, J., A. Simser & Azad, A. F. 2003. The ixodid tick, Dermacentor variabilis encodes a functional histamine release factor that is transcriptionally and translationally up-regulated in rickettsia infected ticks. Insect Biochemistry & Molecular Biology 33:911-919.

Simser, J.A., Mulenga, A., Macaluso, K. R., and Azad, A. F. 2004. Immune-responsive lysozymes from hemocytes of the American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis and an embryonic cell line of the Rocky Mountain wood tick, D. andersoni. Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 34:1235-1246.

Dinglasan, R. R., Valenzuela, J. G. and Azad. A. F. 2005. Conserved carbohydrate epitopes as universal transmission blocking targets. Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology , 35:1-10.

Dinglasan, R. R., Porter-Kelley, J.M., Alam, U. and Azad, A.F. 2005. Peptide mimics as surrogate immunogens of mosquito midgut carbohydrate malaria transmission blocking targets. Vaccine, 23:2717-2724.

Rahman, M.S., J. A. Simser, K. R. Macaluso & Azad, A. F.. 2005. Functional analysis of secA homolog from rickettsiae. Microbiology 151:589-596

Simser, J. A., Rahman, M.S., Dreher-Lesnick, S. M. and Azad, A. F. 2005. A novel and naturally occurring transposon, ISRpe1 in the Rickettsia peacockii genome disrupting the rickA gene involved in actin-based motility. Molecular Microbial 58:71-79.

Mulenga, A. and Azad, A.F. 2005. The molecular and biological analysis of ixodid ticks histamine release factors. Exp. Appl. Acarology 37: 215-229.

Porter-Kelley, J.M., Dinglasan, R. R., Alam, U., Ndeta, G.A., U. Sacci, J. B. and Azad, A.F. 2006. Plasmodium yoelii: Axenic development of parasite mosquito stages. Exp. Parasitol. 112:99-108.

Dreher-Lesnick, S. M., Mulenga, A., Simser, J. A. and Azad, A. F. 2006. Differential expression of two novel glutathione S-transferases identified from the American Dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis. Insect Molecular Biology 15:445-453.

Personal History

EDUCATION

1960-1966: Dr. Pharmacy, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
1969-1970: M.P.H., University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
1972-1976: Ph.D., The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
1976-1978: Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Microbiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

1990-present: Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine (with tenure).
1990-present: Professor, International Health Program, University of Maryland School of Medicine.
1983-1990: Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine (with tenure).
1978-1983: Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine.
1976: Post-doctoral Fellow, University of Maryland School of Medicine.
1970: Assistant Professor, University of Tehran School of Public Health
10/1971-12/1971: Visiting Scientist, USSR Academy of Sciences (Invited by the USSR Academy of Sciences).
8/1968-12/1968: Visiting Fellow, University of Georgia & University of North Carolina (WHO-sponsored Short-term postdoctoral training in Ecology and Parasitology)

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