Dr. Shirley Luckhart

powered by
COS Expertise®
University of California, Davis
School of Medicine
Medical Microbiology and Immunology
Associate ProfessorAppointed: 2004

Mailing Address

Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology
School of Medicine, UC Davis
3146 Tupper Hall
One Shields Ave.
Davis, California 95616
United States

Contact Information

Phone: (530) 754-6963
Fax: (530) 752-8692
sluckhart@ucdavis.edu

Qualifications

Ph.D., Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Entomology, 1995.

Expertise and Research Interests

General areas of research in the laboratory include: the molecular cell biology and biochemistry of the interaction between malaria parasites (Plasmodium spp.) and mosquito hosts (Anopheles spp.) and the functional characterization of primitive orthologs of mammalian immune molecules and cell signaling proteins using the mosquito as an invertebrate model. Specific research projects include: characterization of mosquito gene products that inhibit malaria parasite development and molecular/biochemical analysis of parasite damage; analysis of expression, signaling, and regulation of anti-parasite genes in Anopheles mosquitoes; molecular and functional analyses of immune factors that are conserved between mosquitoes and their mammalian hosts.

Keywords

COS Keywords:

Cell Biology, Entomology, Molecular Biology, Parasitology.

Additional Terms:

Comparative Immunology of Malaria/Mosquito Interactions, Innate Immunity.

Memberships

American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Society for Microbiology
American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Entomological Society of America
International Society for Developmental and Comparative Immunology
International Society for Infectious Diseases
Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society

Previous Positions

1998-2004, Assistant Professor, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Biochemistry
1995-1998, National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research

Funding Received

  • National Institutes of Health (NIH): Crosstalk among mosquito & mammalian immune factors (R01), $1.25M direct costs, 2004 to 2008.
  • National Institutes of Health (NIH): Plasmodium signaling of innate immunity (R01), $700K direct costs, 2004 to 2008.
  • Jeffress Memorial Trust: Comparative transcriptome analyses of murine and Anopheles cellular responses to mammalian TGF-beta1, $40K, 2002 to 2004.
  • World Health Organization Tropical Disease Research Grant: Anopheles stephensi NO synthase, $43K, 1997 to 1999.
  • National Institutes of Health (NIH): Anopheles stephensi NO synthase: impact on Plasmodium (R29), $350K direct costs, 1997 to 2003.

Publications

  • Lim J, Gowda DC, Krishnegowda G, Luckhart S (May 2005) Induction of nitric oxide synthase in Anopheles stephensi by Plasmodium falciparum: mechanism of signaling and the role of parasite glycosylphosphatidylinositols., Infection and Immunity, 73 (5), 2778-89
  • Vodovotz Y, Zamora R, Lieber MJ, Luckhart S, Cross-talk between nitric oxide and transforming growth factor-beta1 in malaria, Current Molecular Medicine, 4(7), 787-797, Nov 2004
  • Lieber MJ, Luckhart S, Transforming growth factor-betas and related gene products in mosquito vectors of human malaria parasites: signaling architecture for immunological crosstalk, Molecular Immunology, 41(10), 965-77, Aug 2004 Abstract
  • Luckhart S, Crampton AL, Zamora R, Lieber MJ, Dos Santos PC, Peterson TM, Emmith N, Lim J, Wink DA, Vodovotz Y, Mammalian transforming growth factor beta1 activated after ingestion by Anopheles stephensi modulates mosquito immunity, Infection and Immunity, 71(6), 3000-9, June 2003 Abstract
  • Luckhart S, Li K, Dunton R, Lewis EE, Crampton AL, Ryan JR, Rosenberg R, Anopheles gambiae immune gene variants associated with natural Plasmodium infection, Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology, 128(1), 83-6, April 2003 Abstract
  • Luckhart S, Li K, Transcriptional complexity of the Anopheles stephensi nitric oxide synthase gene, Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 31(3), 249-56, March 2001 Abstract
  • Crampton AL, Luckhart S, Isolation and characterization of As60A, a transforming growth factor-beta gene, from the malaria vector Anopheles stephensi, Cytokine, 13(2), 65-74, Jan 2001 Abstract
  • Crampton, A, Luckhart, S., The role of As60A, a TGF-beta homolog, in Anopheles stephensi innate immunity and defense against Plasmodium infection, Infection, Genetics, and Evolution, 1, 131-141, 2001
  • Cui L, Luckhart S, Rosenberg R, Molecular characterization of a prophenoloxidase cDNA from the malaria mosquito Anopheles stephensi, Insect Molecular Biology, 9(2), 127-37, April 2000 Abstract
  • Luckhart S, Rosenberg R, Gene structure and polymorphism of an invertebrate nitric oxide synthase gene, Gene, 232(1), 25-34, 1999 Abstract
  • Luckhart S, Vodovotz Y, Cui L, Rosenberg R, The mosquito Anopheles stephensi limits malaria parasite development with inducible synthesis of nitric oxide, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), 95(10), 5700-5, 1998 Abstract
  • Luckhart S, Webb BA, Interaction of a wasp ovarian protein and polydnavirus in host immune suppression, Developmental and Comparative Immunology, 20(1), 1-21, 1996 Abstract
  • Webb BA, Luckhart S, Evidence for an early immunosuppressive role for related Campoletis sonorensis venom and ovarian proteins in Heliothis virescens, Archives of Insect Biochemistry and Physiology, 26(2-3), 147-63, 1994 Abstract
  • Webb, B.A., Luckhart, S., Evidence for an early immunosuppressive role for related Campoletis sonorensis venom and ovarian proteins in Heliothis virescens, Archives of Insect Biochemistry and Physiology, 26, 147-163, 1994
  • Olson CA, Cupp EW, Luckhart S, Ribeiro JM, Levy C, Occurrence of Ixodes pacificus (Parasitiformes: Ixodidae) in Arizona, Journal of Medical Entomology, 29(6), 1060-2, November 1992 Abstract
  • Luckhart S, Mullen GR, Durden LA, Wright JC, Borrelia sp. in ticks recovered from white-tailed deer in Alabama, Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 28(3), 449-52, July 1992 Abstract
  • Luckhart S, Cupp MS, Cupp EW, Morphological and functional classification of the hemocytes of adult female Simulium vittatum (Diptera: Simuliidae), Journal of Medical Entomology, 29(3), 457-66, May 1992 Abstract
  • Durden LA, Luckhart S, Mullen GR, Smith S, Tick infestations of white-tailed deer in Alabama, Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 27(4), 606-14, October 1991 Abstract
  • Luckhart S, Mullen GR, Wright JC, Etiologic agent of Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, detected in ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) collected at a focus in Alabama, Journal of Medical Entomology, 28(5), 652-7, September 1991 Abstract
  • Beerntsen BT, Luckhart S, Christensen BM, Brugia malayi and Brugia pahangi: inherent difference in immune activation in the mosquitoes Armigeres subalbatus and Aedes aegypti, Journal of Parasitology, 75(1), 76-81, February 1989 Abstract

Profile Details

Last Updated: 9/3/2007

COS Expertise ID #440024
Reference this profile directly: http://myprofile.cos.com/luckhart24