Volume 7, Issue 3, March 2010

Dr. Avraham Liav, an outstanding organic chemist and special appointment Associate Professor in MIP since 2003, announced his retirement earlier this year. Av received his BS and MS degrees from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, a PhD from the Weizmann Institute, and postdoctoral training at the Ohio State University. Over the years, Av held a variety of positions in industry and academia. Before coming to CSU in 1999, Av worked for 10 years at the National Jewish Medical Center in Denver where he developed a new way to synthesize two complex carbohydrate components of the mycobacterial cell wall - trehalose dimycoloate and dicornynomycolate. This work was among the most highly cited of his career which included 48 papers and a whopping 6 US patents. Av was a key contributor to the medicinal chemistry efforts of our Mycobacterial Research Labs and over his time in our department synthesized numerous potential inhibitors of mycobacterial cell wall biosynthesis and other potential novel TB drugs. There’s undoubtedly a lot of mycobacteria out there that are breathing a sigh of relief now that Av has decided to put down his round bottom flasks and condensors! The MIP department collectively wishes to thank Av for his many years of service and wishes him well in his retirement.

Congratulations to Junior Microbiology Major, Erin Breland, for being selected as this year's CVMBS recipient for the Phi Kappa Phi Award.

Phi Kappa Phi was established with a stated intent of recognizing students as juniors in college who have demonstrated outstanding acheivement to date and who show excellent promise to distinguish themselves as they move beyond CSU.

Erin will be publicly recognized on May 6 in a ceremony in the Cherokee Park Ballroom of the Lory Student Center.

The annual CMB/MCIN/BMB/MIP Poster Symposium was held on Feb 26th in the Lory Student Center. Congratulations to all the students and postdocs who assembled and presented posters! Listed below are the MIP Students who received special recognition for their work:

Highest Honors
Kevin Sokoloski

Honors
Candace Mathiason

Honorable mention
Davis Seelig
Michel Brady
Crystal Meyerett
Emily Chaskey
Drew Rholl

25 Years Service

Jon Carlson

20 Years Service

Tach Costello
Julie Inamine
Lisa McCann
Ken Olson

15 Years Service

Anne Avery
Paul Avery
Christine Olver
Richard Titus

10 Years Service

Randy Basaraba
Doreene Hyatt
Victoria Jones
Jes Kuruvilla
Av Liav
Charmaine Matheson
Robin Morris
Erin Napier
Laurel Respicio
Andrea Torres

Congratulations to Megan and Alexa on having their submissions selected among some rather fierce competition for inclusion in the 2010 CSU Art and Science Exhibition. If you haven’t checked them out yet, they’ll be up in the Lory Student Center through April 7^th.

Megan Caraway

Alexa Dickson

Krystle Reagan presented her final seminar entitled, "Mosquito salivary protein vaccine enhances West Nile virus infection" on Tuesday, March 9. Her advisor is Dr. Carol Blair.

Cristina Weiner presented her final seminar entitled, "Acute infection of PBMCs with ncp-2 BVDV causes IFN-I response and CXCR4 expression" on Tuesday, March 2. Her advisors are Dr. Thomas Hansen and Dr. Sue VandeWoude

Synthesis of CDP-ME2P and Kinetic Studies of Mycobacterium tuberculosis IspF

Prabagaran Narayanasamy, Hyungjin Eoh, Pat Brennan and Dean Crick

Chemistry and Biology 17, 117-122

In basic research, all of our brilliant ideas are oftentimes only as good as the reagents and assays available to test them in the laboratory.   With over 23,000 isoprenoids characterized in biological systems (e.g. cholesterol, bile acids, etc), isoprenoid biosynthesis is vital for the growth of all living cells.  Interestingly, while you and I make our isoprenoids via the mevalonate pathway, eubacteria like Mycobacteria tuberculosis make theirs via an alternative MEP pathway that’s not found in human cells.  Therefore the enzymes of this MEP pathway are very attractive targets for the development of new anti-mycobacterial drugs.  The only problem is that the enzymes and their chemical substrates for many steps of this MEP pathway are very hard to come by, slowing down our understanding of the basic biochemistry of the pathway and the development of new anti-TB drugs.  With 1/3rd of the world infected with M. tb and drug-resistant strains on the rise, we can leave no stone unturned in the hunt for new drugs against this human scourge.

In this month’s MIPublication highlight, Praba, Hyungjiin, Pat and Dean continue their work on pounding out aspects of the MEP pathway by reporting a truly major advance in the reagents and assays available to investigate a key aspect of it.  First, the group discovered an effective way to synthesize CDP-ME2P, the substrate for the IspF enzyme in the pathway.  The synthesis they uncovered also allows radiolabeling of the substrate if desired as well as long term storage of a precursor to allow for rapid CDP-ME2P production by a simple deprotection step.  Not satisfied to stop there, the group identified the M. tb IspF enzyme and generated an active, His-tagged recombinant protein that they used for obtaining some fundamental enzymatic parameters on IspF.  Finally, by adapting a way to measure the CMP released during IspF catalysis of CDP-ME2P, the authors have also developed a nice assay that can be used for high throughput screening for new anti-microbial compounds that specifically target this enzyme.

Aside from its obvious scientific impact, we picked this paper as our coveted MIPublication of the month® for two reasons.  First and foremost, it illustrates the value and impact our local organic/medicinal chemists can have on our basic and translational research programs.   Finally, , Dean has been so preoccupied with the success of his native Canada’s curling team and it’s gold medal at the Olympics, we thought maybe he didn’t realize that his work had been published :)

MIP Publications Late February 2010 - Early March 2010

• Deenadayalan A, Heaslip D, Rajendiran AA, Velayudham BV, Frederick S, Yang HL, Dobos K, Belisle JT, Raja A.  Immunoproteomic Identification of Human T Cell Antigens of Mycobacterium tuberculosis That Differentiate Healthy Contacts from Tuberculosis Patients.  Mol Cell Proteomics. 2010 Mar;9(3):538-49
• Estes DM, Dow SW, Schweizer HP, Torres AG.  Present and future therapeutic strategies for melioidosis and glanders.  Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther. 2010 Mar;8(3):325-38.
• Huang CY, Butrapet S, Moss KJ, Childers T, Erb SM, Calvert AE, Silengo SJ, Kinney RM, Blair CD, Roehrig JT.  The dengue virus type 2 envelope protein fusion peptide is essential for membrane fusion.  Virology. 2010 Jan 20;396(2):305-15.
• Lehman TL, O'Halloran KP, Hoover EA, Avery PR.  Utilizing the FIV model to understand dendritic cell dysfunction and the potential role of dendritic cell immunization in HIV infection.   Vet Immunol Immunopathol. 2010 Mar 15;134(1-2):75-81.
• Marjanovic O, Miyata T, Goodridge A, Kendall LV, Riley LW.  Mce2 operon mutant strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is attenuated in C57BL/6 mice.  Tuberculosis (Edinb). 2010 Jan;90(1):50-6.
• Narayanasamy P, Eoh H, Brennan PJ, Crick DC. Synthesis of 4-Diphosphocytidyl-2-C-Methyl-D-Erythritol 2-Phosphate and Kinetic Studies of Mycobacterium tuberculosis IspF.   Chem Biol. 2010 Feb 26;17(2):117-122.
• Rhyan JC, Spraker TR.  Emergence of diseases from wildlife reservoirs.  Vet Pathol. 2010 Jan;47(1):34-9.
• Thamm DH, Kurzman ID, Clark MA, Ehrhart EJ 3rd, Kraft SL, Gustafson DL, Vail DM.  Preclinical Investigation of PEGylated Tumor Necrosis Factor {alpha} in Dogs with Spontaneous Tumors: Phase I Evaluation.  Clin Cancer Res. 2010 Mar 1;16(5):1498-508.
• Torres AN, O'Halloran KP, Larson LJ, Schultz RD, Hoover EA.  Feline leukemia virus immunity induced by whole inactivated virus vaccination.  Vet Immunol Immunopathol. 2010 Mar 15;134(1-2):122-31.
• Van Campen H, Rhyan J.  The role of wildlife in diseases of cattle.  Vet Clin North Am Food Anim Pract. 2010 Mar;26(1):147-61,

Forget to do something last month? We need your help to see how we're doing! Can you please take a few minutes and complete our MIPnews Online Reader's Survey?

The first annual MIP March Madness Party to kick off Spring Break took place on March 12th in the Canyon West room of the Lincoln Center. In addition to the usual libations, attendees enjoyed a delicious pot-luck dinner, a live band and the first annual MIP basketball shooting tournament. The night's big award winners were:

MIP March Madness Basketball Team Champions:
the RNAces
Best exhibition of basketball shooting:
John Anderson
Trivia Contest Winner:
RoxAnn Karkhoff-Schweizer
Correct Guesses of the winning team:
Andrea Bohn / Randy Basaraba

A special thanks to Todd Harding for providing professional sportscasting during the event!

Check out the Photo Gallery

When: Sunday June 20th at 1PM
Event: Rox versus Milwaukee Brewers
Seats: Section 117 (same section as last year)
Cost per ticket: $15

Interested? Contact Jeff Wilusz for more details and ticket reservations.

The Spring meeting of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the American Society for Microbiology (RMB) will be held at Colorado State on Friday evening and Saturday, April 23 and 24th in the Pathology Building. RoxAnn Karkhoff-Schweizer is hosting the festivities. The event will be held in room 103 with poster session in room 101. Oral and poster presentations by undergraduates and graduates at the meeting are highly encouraged, and will be entered in a monetary award competition.

If you are interested in attending and/or presenting at the meeting, please contact either Branch President Nancy Sasaki at Nancy.Sasaki@du.edu or Branch President-Elect Randall Cohrs at Randall.Cohrs@UCHSC.edu.

The RMB will be host to two lectureship speakers: Dr. Christopher Woolverton (Professor of Biological Sciences and Director of the Center for Public Health Preparedness at Kent State University) and Dr. Jeff Wilusz (Professor of Microbiology, Immunology & Pathology at Colorado State University). An official announcement about the meeting will be posted shortly on the RMB webpage.

(for the ‘signage-challenged’ among us, this means that the ribbon cutting for the new RIC building at the Foothills Campus is slated for May 11^th)

Call for Proposals

Infectious Diseases Research Proposals
Capacity Building and Activities

The CSU Infectious Disease Supercluster (IDSC) has released two requests for proposals to fund projects to develop and enhance Infectious Disease (ID) research, capacity and activities at CSU. For entire RFAs please visit the Funding Opportunities webpage. Anticipated start date for successful proposals is July 1, 2010.

Information on the IDSC, its mission and goals are available on the IDSC Website.

Proposals due by March 26, 2010, 5:00 p.m.

Judges are needed for the 2010 Colorado Science and Engineering Fair to be held at CSU on April 8th. Students are from grades 7-12 and regional winners from sceince fairs from all over Colorado.

Facutly, postdocs, graduate students and undergraduates can participate as judges. SIGN-UP ON-LINE at the Colorado State Science Fair Inc. Website, the sponsor of CSEF.

Microbiology Room B124 Face-Lift

In case you didn’t notice, Microbiology Room B124 was unavailable during the week of Spring Break for re-carpeting and painting. If you haven’t checked out this snazzy new conference room, stop by and have a look!

Deadline for Abstract Submission is March 29 .

Setup posters: Mon, April 19, 5-10pm
Judging: Tues, April 20, 10am-2pm
Awards Ceremony: Thurs, April 22, TBD

For more information, see the CURC Webpage

Colorado State University has created the "JUR: Journal of Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Excellence" which combines undergraduate and faculty involvement to create a cooperative approach to the peer review process. It provides an exciting opportunity for undergraduates from all disciplines, and from any accredited institution, to showcase their original work.

See the attached flyer for more information.

The ASM Undergraduate Teaching Fellowship (UTF) is aimed at highly motivated and competitive students who are interested in a career as an elementary or secondary school science teacher. Students will have the opportunity to develop a project to provide instruction in a scientific discipline in a local school or community setting in partnership with a mentor at their home institution and a teacher or site coordinator from the host site.

Application Deadline is April 1, 2010
See the ASM Website for more information

Call for Applications

Application Deadline is May 1, 2010

For more information regarding applicant requirements and application go to the ASM Graduate Fellowship webpage

2010 ASM Kadner Institute in Preparation for Careers in Microbiology

Michigan State University
July 24-28, 2010

Application Deadline: May 15, 2010

For more information on applicant requirements and how to apply go to the ASM Graduate and Postdoctoral Opportunities webpage

Congratulations to Ralph Smith on the birth of his 6th Grandchild in February!

‘Finding the question is often more important than finding the answer’

Which MIP faculty member’s signature do you think this is?

Alternative ‘Rorschach-esque’ interpretations of this picture:

• Sad hunchbacked guy wearing a cap and facing left
• Dueling paperclips
• Shamu viewed from below and slightly to his left
• Anopheles mosquito following a bloodmeal
• Submit your own / guess the signature

Questions for MIPuzzle #52
MIPuzzle #52 Answers

Torsten Eckstein, "Mycobacterium paratuberculosis Host Interactions", Oregon State University

Richard Slayden, "Chemotherapeutics Against Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis", State University of New York at Stonybrook

• Protecting your Intellectual Property as an NIH researcher

  As translational research creeps more and more into the mainstream of MIP research, protecting your intellectual property becomes a very important aspect. Check out the informative NIAID write up on the topic in the March 3rd edition of their newsletter.

• NIH wants your opinion on how it should invest in training and career development

  The National Institute of General Medical Sciences, an NIH institute with a large portfolio of training awards, is actively seeking input from students, postdocs and faculty on the development of a new strategic plan for their research training and career development activities. Let them know what you think (by April 21st).

Monday, July 5, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010 *
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Friday, Novvember 26, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
Friday, December 31, 2010
Monday, January 17, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011

* = special MIP holiday (you still have to come to work but it's our favorite Dept Head's birthday)

Mon	Tue	Wed	Thur	Fri
1	2 Graduate Seminar	3 Microscopy Seminar	4 Faculty Seminar, 12pm	5
8	9 Graduate Seminar	10 Microscopy Seminar	11 Faculty Seminar	12 March Madness Party 6pm Lincoln Center
15 S B	16 P R	17 R E	18 I A	19 NG K
22	23 Graduate Seminar	24 Microscopy Seminar	25	26 Faculty Seminar
29	30 Faculty Mtg 103 Path Graduate Seminar	31 Microscopy Seminar

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