Kyler Crawford, PhD

GPCR structural biology / Chemokine immunology and cancer biology

I study the chemokine receptor ACKR1/DARC, a 7-TM receptor that regulates chemokine signals involved in cell migration and inflammation. The chemokine network coordinates cell migration, but can be hijacked by cancer cells to facilitate metastasis. I hope to understand the protective scavenging mechanisms of ACKR1/DARC and its role in patient health. 

Research Experience

Medical College of Wisconsin, 2019-2023
Advisor: Brian Volman, PhD
Project: Chemokine regulation and metastasis suppression by the atypical chemokine receptor DARC/ACKR1

Midwestern University, 2014-2016
Advisor: Jose Hernandez, PhD
Project: Zur and ZntR control zinc homeostasis in Klebsiella oxytoca: Biochemical characterization and application in high-throughput screening

University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2010-2012
Advisor: David Andes, MD
Project: Antifungal resistance mechanisms of Candida albicans biofilms

Publications

Crawford KS, Volkman BF. Prospects for targeting ACKR1 in cancer and other diseases. Front Immunol. 2023 Mar 15;14:1111960. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1111960. PMID: 37006247; PMCID: PMC10050359.

Elmansi AM, Eisa NH, Periyasamy-Thandavan S, Kondrikova G, Kondrikov D, Calkins MM, Aguilar-Pérez A, Chen J, Johnson M, Shi XM, Reitman C, McGee-Lawrence ME, Crawford KS, Dwinell MB, Volkman BF, Blumer JB, Luttrell LM, McCorvy JD, Hill WD. DPP4-Truncated CXCL12 Alters CXCR4/ACKR3 Signaling, Osteogenic Cell Differentiation, Migration, and Senescence. ACS Pharmacol Transl Sci. 2022 Dec 13;6(1):22-39. doi: 10.1021/acsptsci.2c00040. PMID: 36659961; PMCID: PMC9844133.

Gutjahr JC, Crawford KS, Jensen DR, Naik P, Peterson FC, Samson GPB, Legler DF, Duchene J, Veldkamp CT, Rot A, Volkman BF. The dimeric form of CXCL12 binds to atypical chemokine receptor 1. Sci Signal. 2021 Aug 17;14(696):eabc9012. doi: 10.1126/scisignal.abc9012. PMID: 34404752.

Wedemeyer MJ, Mahn SA, Getschman AE, Crawford KS, Peterson FC, Marchese A, McCorvy JD, Volkman BF. The chemokine X-factor: Structure-function analysis of the CXC motif at CXCR4 and ACKR3. J Biol Chem. 2020 Oct 2;295(40):13927-13939. doi: 10.1074/jbc.RA120.014244. PMID: 32788219; PMCID: PMC7535910.

Nett JE, Cain MT, Crawford K, Andes DR. Optimizing a Candida biofilm microtiter plate model for measurement of antifungal susceptibility by tetrazolium salt assay. J Clin Microbiol. 2011 Apr;49(4):1426-33. doi: 10.1128/JCM.02273-10. Epub 2011 Jan 12. PMID: 21227984; PMCID: PMC3122839.

Nett JE, Crawford K, Marchillo K, Andes DR. Role of Fks1p and matrix glucan in Candida albicans biofilm resistance to an echinocandin, pyrimidine, and polyene. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2010 Aug;54(8):3505-8. doi: 10.1128/AAC.00227-10. Epub 2010 Jun 1. PMID: 20516280; PMCID: PMC2916329.
 

Meeting Abstracts

Crawford KS, Peterson FC, Veldkamp CT, Volkman BF. Binding interactions between dimeric form of CXCL12/SDF-1 and atypical chemokine receptor 1 (ACKR1/DARC). Poster for 29th International Conference on Magnetic Resonance in Biological Systems (ICMRBS), Boston, MA August 2022.

Crawford KS, Peterson FC, Veldkamp CT, Volkman BF. Structural features of atypical chemokine receptor 1 (ACKR1/DARC) binding to dimeric CXCL12/SDF-1. Poster for 37th Annual National MD/PhD Conference, Copper Mountain, CO, July 2022.

Crawford KS. Structural insights on the 'DARC' side of CXCL12 signaling and bone marrow metastasis. Oral presentation for Chemotactic Cytokines Gordon Research Seminar (GRS), Les Diablerets, Switzerland, June 2022.

Crawford KS, Peterson FC, Veldkamp CT, Volkman BF. Structural features of atypical chemokine receptor 1 (ACKR1/DARC) binding to dimeric CXCL12/SDF-1. Poster for Chemotactic Cytokines Gordon Research Conference (GRC), Les Diablerets Switzerland, June 2022.

Crawford KS, Gutjahr J, Peterson FC, Veldkamp CT, Rot A, Volkman BF. Dimeric form of CXCL12/SDF-1 binds to atypical chemokine receptor-1 (ACKR/DARC). Poster presentation for 6th European Receptor Networking and Signal Transduction Conference (ERNEST), Virtual conference, March 2022.

Crawford KS, Gutjahr J, Peterson FC, Veldkamp CT, Rot A, Volkman BF. Atypical chemokine receptor-1 (ACKR1/DARC) N-terminal binding sites for dimeric CXCL12. Poster presentation for 31st Graduate School & Office of Postdoctoral Education Research Session (GSPS), Virtual conference, November 2021.

Crawford KS. Structural determinants of CXCL12 binding by ACKR1. Abstract selected for oral presentation at Chicago Area NMR Discussion Group (CANMRDG) Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics Session, Virtual conference, October 2021.

Crawford KS, Gutjahr J, Peterson FC, Veldkamp CT, Rot A, Volkman BF. Atypical chemokine receptor 1 (ACKR1/DARC) selectively interacts with dimeric form of CXCL12/SDF-1. Poster for Transatlantic Early Career Investigators GPCR Symposium 2021, Virtual conference, July 2021.

Crawford KS, Gutjahr J, Peterson FC, Veldkamp CT, Rot A, Volkman BF. Dimeric form of CXCL12/SDF1 binds to atypical chemokine receptor 1 (ACKR1/DARC). Abstract selected for oral presentation for ASBMB Experimental Biology Protein Complexes Session, Virtual Conference, April 2021.

Crawford KS, Gutjahr J, Peterson FC, Veldkamp CT, Rot A, Volkman BF. The amino-terminus of atypical chemokine receptor 1 (ACKR1/DARC) exhibits binding affinity for the chemokine CXCL12 (SDF-1). Poster presentation for Annual MCW Graduate Student Association (GSA) Research Symposium, Virtual conference, March 2021.

Crawford KS, Gutjahr J, Peterson FC, Veldkamp CT, Rot A, Volkman BF. Interaction of CXCL12/SDF1 and atypical chemokine receptor 1 (ACKR1/DARC). Poster for 30th Annual MCW Graduate School & Office of Postdoctoral Education Research Session (GSPS) received Poster Award, Virtual conference, February 2021.

Crawford KS and Wedemeyer MJ. Anaconda and Jupyter notebooks. Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program (IDP) Professional Development II, Medical College of Wisconsin, February 2020.

Crawford KS. Bringing proteins to life with augmented reality. Presentation for Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) Students Modeling a Research Topic (SMART) Team, Medical College of Wisconsin, January 2020.

Crawford KS. Practical PyMOL Tutorial: Using PyMOL to visualize an aminoglycoside antibiotic resistance enzyme. Association for Biomolecular and Computational Simulation (ABACUS), Medical College of Wisconsin, October 2019.

Crawford KS. Tidy Data Tutorial: Exploring the Data Science in R datasets. Association for Biomolecular and Computational Simulation (ABACUS), Medical College of Wisconsin, September 2019.

Crawford KS, Hernandez J. Biochemical characterization of zinc-responsive transcription factors Zur and ZntR in Klebsiella oxytoca. Poster presentation for Kenneth G. Suarez Research Day was awarded Best AZCOM Student Presentation, Midwestern University, Phoenix, AZ, April 2016.

Crawford KS, Hernandez J. Zur and ZntR control zinc homeostasis in Klebsiella oxytoca-Biochemical characterization and application in high-throughput screening. Poster presentation for ASBMB Transcriptional Regulation section at Experimental Biology 2016, San Diego, CA, April 2016.

Crawford KS. Evaluation of alternatives to traditional bacterial nutrient media. Poster for University of Wisconsin-System Research in the Rotunda, Madison WI, April 2007.

General Interests

Basketball, tennis, cycling, music, and my dog