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Kirkwood Land

Kirkwood Land

HUMAN AND VETERINARY PARASITOLOGY LABORATORY

Principal Investigator
Kirkwood M. Land

Laboratory Mission and Objectives

We use multi-disciplinary approaches to address important parasitological problems of human and veterinary significance. Our aims are to ask important questions, design experimental strategies to explore those questions, and to find possible solutions to local and global infectious diseases.   We collaborate with investigators at research universities, government laboratories, and biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.  This strategy has allowed us to be very productive scholars within our 'small school setting' and continues to increase our standing in the infectious disease community.   

Current Research Interests

We focus on three different, but interconnected, areas of parasitological research.   The first two areas represent our main areas of work.  In addition, we collaborate with local government agencies to address important host-parasite studies of interest in California.

  1. Anti-protozoan drug discovery targeting pathogens of global health significance.

a. Assay development and chemical library screens (new synthesis, as well as FDA approved compound libraries)

b. Molecular characterization of drug targets

c. Identification of new sub-cellular targets (i.e. lysosomal proteome analysis, kinome analysis)

d. Murine and avian models of protozoan parasite infections of human and veterinary importance (in collaboration with Department of Pathology, UCSD, San Diego, CA; Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, ARS-USDA, Beltsville, MD).

  1. Antigenic and molecular characterization of food and waterborne bacterial and protozoal pathogens of human and veterinary importance; development of molecular diagnostics for detecting contamination of water and biological samples.

a. Recombinant expression of putative targets for monoclonal antibody production and characterization; animal studies of protection and immunity.

b. Focus on bacterial and algal toxins; and the protozoal parasites Cryptosporidium parvum and Cyclospora cayatenensis.

  1. Collaborative investigation of complex host-parasite interactions of human and veterinary importance in the Northern California area of the United States.

a. Mosquito-parasite population genetics significant to Northern California (collaborating scientists at the San Joaquin Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District).

b. Fecal pollution studies of Central Valley waterways using bioindicator species such as the protozoal parasites Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Toxoplasma, and Cyclospora within the Asian clam Corbicula (collaborating scientists at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine)

Publications (* denotes undergraduate co-authors)

*Dornbush, PJ, Cho CH, Chang E, Lu Xu, Russu, WA, Wrischnik LA, and LAND, KM (2010) Preliminary Studies of 3,4-Dichloroaniline Amides as Antiparasitic Agents: Structure Activity Analysis of a Compound Library in vitro Against Trichomonas vaginalis. Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters 20(17): 5299-301

*Dornbush, PJ, Vazquez-Anaya G, Shokar A, Nguyen S, Wnuk SF, Wrischnik LA, LAND, KM (2010) AldoHyc Hydrolase of Trichomonas vaginalis: Studies of the effects of 5'-deoxy-5'-(iodomethylene) adenosine and related 6-N-cyclopropyladenosine analogues on in vitro culture. Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters 20(24): 7466-8

LAND, KM and Cheng, L.W. (2010) The botulinum neurotoxin: a deadly protease with applications to human medicine. In A. Mendez-Vilas (Ed.) Current Research and Technology in Applied Microbiology and Microbial Biotechnology Vol. 2: 683-690.

*Chellan, P., Stringer, T., Shokar, A, Dornbush, PJ, Vazquez-Ayana, G., LAND KM, Chiable, K., and Smith GS. (2011) Synthesis and in vitro Evaluation of Palladium(II) Salicylaldiminato Thiosemicarbazone Complexes Against Trichomonas vaginalis. Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry 105:1562-1568.

Cheng LW, LAND, KM, L. H. Stanker (in press) Current methods for detecting the presence of botulinum neurotoxins in food and other biological samples. In Bioterrorism (In Tech publishers).

*Shokar, A., Au, A., An, S.H., Zayas, J., Wnuk, S.F., LAND, KM. Adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase of the protozoan parasite Trichomonas vaginalis: Potent inhibitory activity of 9-(2-deoxy-2-fluoro-β,D-arabinofuranosyl)adenine. Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters (in press)

Ndao, M., Nath-Chowdhury, M., Sajid, M., Marcus, V., S. T. Mashiyama, J. Sakanari, E. Chow, Z. Mackey, LAND, KM, M. P. Jacobson, C. Kalyanaraman, J. H. McKerrow, M. J. Arrowood, C. R. Caffrey. A cysteine protease inhibitor rescues mice from a lethal Cryptosporidium parvum infection. Submitted.


Kirkwood Land, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Biological Sciences
Email Link Email - Phone: 209.946.7609
Office: Biology Room 249

University of the Pacific
3601 Pacific Avenue
Stockton, CA 95211

Area:  Biology of the human parasite Trichomonas vaginalis