
Dara W. Frank, PhD
Professor
Locations
- Translational and Biomedical Research Center
TBRC C3960
Contact Information
General Interests
Education
Research Interests
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which usually resides in soil and water environments, can infect compromised hosts to cause significant morbidity and mortality. The pathogenesis of this organism in humans involves multiple virulence factors whose expression patterns are integrated with growth and replication. Virulence is mediated mainly by the expression of cell surface molecules, sensing and signal transduction systems, motility, chemotaxis and the ability to secrete a number of destructive enzymes including proteases, lipases, neuraminidase, toxins and capsular material. My long-term objective is to understand the interplay between host and bacterial factors that lead to life-threatening infections with P. aeruginosa. We have focused on the relationship between expression of toxins injected by the type III system and Pseudomonas pathogenesis in acute infection models. The local as well as the systemic delivery of toxins emphasize the pathogenic potential of the bacterium. Our hypothesis is that delivery of the type III toxins inhibits the uptake and destruction of P. aeruginosa during the initial stages of colonization, allowing multiplication past the point of resolution by innate immune mechanisms in compromised hosts. The outcome of infection is then determined by the extent of injury or compromised state of the host, the expression patterns of the various toxins, proteases and other destructive enzymes, and the host response.
Publications
-
(Liao F, Zhou D, Cano M, Liu Z, Scozzi D, Tague LK, Byers DE, Li W, Sivapackiam J, Sharma V, Krupnick AS, Frank DW, Kreisel D, Kulkarni HS, Hachem RR, Gelman AE.) Sci Transl Med. 2025 Feb 05;17(784):eadp1349 PMID: 39908350 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85218290823 02/05/2025
-
cUMP elicits interendothelial gap formation during Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection.
(deWeever A, Paudel SS, Zhou C, Francis CM, Tambe DT, Frank DW, Balczon R, Stevens T.) Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol. 2024 Sep 01;327(3):L395-L405 PMID: 39076085 PMCID: PMC11444506 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85203871381 07/30/2024
-
(Cina NP, Frank DW, Klug CS.) Protein Sci. 2024 Feb;33(2):e4879 PMID: 38131105 PMCID: PMC10804673 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85182824310 12/22/2023
-
(Gies SL, Tessmer MH, Frank DW, Feix JB.) Applied Magnetic Resonance. March 2024;55(1-3):279-295 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85173909117 03/01/2024
-
(Schultz KM, Schneider JR, Fischer MA, Cina NP, Riegert MO, Frank DW, Klug CS.) Protein Sci. 2023 Aug;32(8):e4724 PMID: 37417889 PMCID: PMC10360375 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85165512022 07/07/2023
-
Gamma secretase activating protein promotes end-organ dysfunction after bacterial pneumonia.
(Gwin MS, Alexeyev MF, Geurts AM, Lee JY, Zhou C, Yang XM, Cohen MV, Downey JM, Barrington RA, Spadafora D, Audia JP, Frank DW, Voth S, Pastukh VV, Bell J, Ayers L, Tambe DT, Nelson AR, Balczon R, Lin MT, Stevens T.) Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol. 2023 Aug 01;325(2):L174-L189 PMID: 37366533 PMCID: PMC10396227 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85166442544 06/27/2023
-
(Wills BM, Garai P, Riegert MO, Sanchez FT, Pickrum AM, Frank DW, Brockman KL.) Infect Immun. 2023 Jul 18;91(7):e0003723 PMID: 37255468 PMCID: PMC10353400 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85165519693 05/31/2023
-
(Pickrum AM, Riegert MO, Wells C, Brockman K, Frank DW.) Microbiol Spectr. 2022 Aug 31;10(4):e0208322 PMID: 35856670 PMCID: PMC9430717 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85137137821 07/21/2022
-
TYPE III SECRETORY PROTEINS IN PSEUDOMONAS AERUGINOSA
(Sato H, Frank DW.) 4th Edition Virulence Mechanisms of Bacterial Pathogens. 1 January 2022:3-22 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-77949728623 01/01/2022
-
(Hardy KS, Tessmer MH, Frank DW, Audia JP.) Toxins (Basel). 2021 Dec 09;13(12) PMID: 34941717 PMCID: PMC8708460 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85121432977 12/24/2021
-
(Bagayoko S, Leon-Icaza SA, Pinilla M, Hessel A, Santoni K, Péricat D, Bordignon PJ, Moreau F, Eren E, Boyancé A, Naser E, Lefèvre L, Berrone C, Iakobachvili N, Metais A, Rombouts Y, Lugo-Villarino G, Coste A, Attrée I, Frank DW, Clevers H, Peters PJ, Cougoule C, Planès R, Meunier E.) PLoS Pathog. 2021 Sep;17(9):e1009927 PMID: 34516571 PMCID: PMC8460005 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85115220583 09/14/2021
-
Characterization of the ExoU activation mechanism using EPR and integrative modeling.
(Tessmer MH, DeCero SA, Del Alamo D, Riegert MO, Meiler J, Frank DW, Feix JB.) Sci Rep. 2020 Nov 12;10(1):19700 PMID: 33184362 PMCID: PMC7665212 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85095885803 11/14/2020