Faculty

Janakiram Seshu, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor-Bacterial Pathogenesis
Member-South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases
Office: BSE 3.230
Office Telephone: (210) 458-6578
Lab Telephone: (210) 458-6679
J.Seshu@utsa.edu

Our research interests focus on two infectious diseases: 1) Lyme Disease and 2) Q fever.

Lyme Disease is the most prevalent arthropod-borne infectious disease in the US. It is transmitted to humans (and to other mammals) by the bite of infected ticks. Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, is a spirochetal pathogen that rapidly alters its gene expression depending on the feeding status of the ticks and following transmission to mammalian hosts.
Our current research interests are directed towards:

1). Determining the role of linear plasmid 54 (lp54) encoded genes of B. burgdorferi in the infectivity of mammalian hosts.

2). Characterization of the mechanisms of interactions of B. burgdorferi with mammalian-host cell surfaces.

Q fever is caused by Coxiella burnetii - an obligate, intracellular pathogen. Acute Q fever is a self-limiting flu-like illness and is readily amenable to treatment with antibiotics. Chronic Q fever, on the other hand, is not easily treated with antibiotics and results in endocarditis, hepatitis and pneumonia. C. burnetii is highly infectious, disseminated as an aerosol, capable of withstanding harsh environmental conditions and is a category-B biothreat agent. C. burnetii resides and replicates within the phagolysosomal vacuoles of macrophages and hence has a unique niche protected from the neutralizing effects of humoral immune response. A potent cell-mediated immunity is required to clear this intracellular acidophile.
Our current research efforts are therefore directed towards:

 
1). Identification of T cell epitopes of C. burnetii

2). Modification of select C. burnetii antigens to enhance protective T cell response against virulent C. burnetii

Publications:

Seshu, J., M. Labandeira-Rey, M. Esteve-Gassent, M. Höök and J. T. Skare. (2006). The Isolation and Characterization of Isogenic mutants in Infectious Borrelia burgdorferi. pg 25-41. In Molecular Biology of Spirochetes, NATO Science Series, Life and Behavioral Sciences Vol:373. IOS Press.

Hyde, J. A., Seshu, J. and J. T. Skare. (2006). Transcriptional profiling of borrelial burgdorferi containing a unique bosR allele identifies a putative oxidative stress regulon. Microbiol. 152:2599-2609.

Seshu, J., Esteve-Gassent, M. D., Labandeira-Rey, M., Kim, J. H., Trzeciakowski,J.P. Höök, M. and Skare, J. T. (2006). Inactivation of the Fibronectin-binding Adhesin Gene bbk32 significantly attenuates the Infectivity Potential of Borrelia burgdorferi Mol. Microbiol. 59:1591-1601.

Seshu, J., Boylan, J. A, Hyde, J. A, Swingle, K. L, Gherardini, F. C. , and Skare, J. T. (2004). An conservative amino acid change alters the function of BosR, the redox regulator of Borrelia burgdorferi. Mol. Microbiol. 54:1352-1363.

Seshu, J., Boylan J. A., Gherardini F. C.and Skare, J. T. (2004). Dissolved oxygen levels alter gene expression and antigen profiles in Borrelia burgdorferi. Infect. Immun. 72:1580-1586.

Labandeira-Rey, M, Seshu, J. and Skare, J. T. (2003). The absence of linear plasmid 25 or 28-1 of Borrelia burgdorferi dramatically alters the kinetics of experimental infection via distinct mechanisms. Infect. Immun. 71:4608-13.

Rivera Amill, V, Kim, B. J., Bushman, S. M, Seshu, J. and Konkel, M. E. (2001). Secretion of the virulence associated Campylobacter invasion antigens from Campylobacter jejuni requires a stimulatory signal. J. Infect. Dis. 183:1607-16.

Seshu J. and Skare, J. T. (2000). Many faces of Borrelia burgdorferi. J. Mol. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 2: 463-472.

Yin-yuan Mo, J. Seshu¹, Dong Wang, and Mallavia L.P (1998) Synthesis in Escherichia coli of two smaller, enzymatically active analogs of Coxiella burnetii macrophage infectivity potentiator (CbMip) protein utilizing a single open reading frame from the cbmip gene. Biochemical J. 335: 67-77. ¹Contributed equally to the work and hence should be considered as first authors.

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