Shaun Lee
Department
Areas of Expertise
Biography
Shaun Lee's research broadly involves the study of host-microbe and microbe-microbe interactions that govern human health, wellness, and disease states, especially in aspects of personalized medicine such as host microbiomes. His current work utilizes biophysical, molecular, and cellular technologies to discover and develop novel bacterial peptides for use as safe anti-infective compounds.
Research and Publications
Vu HM, Moran TE, Liang Z, Bao Y-J, Carles PG, Keane JC, Cerney MG, Dahnke CN, Flores-Mireles AL, Ploplis VA, Castellino FJ, Lee SW. Group A Streptococcus remains viable inside fibrin clots and gains access to human plasminogen for subsequent fibrinolysis and dissemination. Microbiol Spectr. 2025 Feb 4;13(2):e0260724. doi: 10.1128/spectrum.
Hammers DE, Donahue DL, Tucker ZD, Ashfeld BL, Ploplis VA, Castellino FJ, Lee SW. Streptolysin S targets the sodium-bicarbonate cotransporter NBCn1 to induce inflammation and cytotoxicity in human keratinocytes during Group A Streptococcal infection. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2022 Nov 1;12:1002230.
Fields FR, Manzo G, Hind CK, Janardhanan J, Foik IP, Carmo Silva PD, Balsara RD, Clifford M, Vu HM, Ross JN, Kalwajtys VR, Gonzalez AJ, Bui TT, Ploplis VA, Castellino FJ, Siryaporn A, Chang M, Sutton JM, Mason AJ, Lee SW.Synthetic antimicrobial peptide tuning permits membrane disruption and interpeptide synergy. ACS Pharm &Transl Sci. 2020 Jun 12;3(3):418-424. doi: 10.1021/acsptsci.0c00001.
Higashi DL, Biais N, Donahue DL, Mayfield JA, Tessier CR, Rodriguez K, Ashfeld BL, Luchetti J, Ploplis VA, Castellino FJ, Lee SW. Activation of band 3 mediates group A Streptococcus streptolysin S-based beta-haemolysis. Nature Microbiology. 2016;1:15004.