Anthony D. Baughn, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology
Contact Info
Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology
Preceptor, Medical Scientist Training Program (Combined MD/PhD Training Program)
Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology (MICaB) Ph.D. Graduate Program
PhD, Tufts University, 2004
Research
Research Summary/Interests
Metabolic requirements for bacterial persistence
The ability of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) to persist in the presence of anti-mycobacterial drugs and immune effector functions is the greatest obstacle in our attempt to eradicate tuberculosis (TB). My laboratory is investigating the hypothesis that persistence is enabled by entrance into and maintenance of a physiological state that is metabolically distinct from that of actively replicating bacilli. The aim of this work is to define this state (or series of states) and characterize pathways that are essential for its establishment and maintenance. My laboratory uses a variety of classical and novel approaches in mycobacterial genetics, biochemistry, physiology, and metabolomics to characterize i) novel aspects of intermediary metabolism in Mtb, ii) metabolic requirements for phenotypic drug tolerance, and iii) drug targets and drug-like compounds effective against persistent bacilli. While these studies address basic science questions about unique aspects of Mtb, they will also provide important contributions to the collaborative and global effort to eradicate TB.
Publications
Modlin SJ, Elghraoui A, Gunasekaran D, Zlotnicki AM, Dillon NA, Dhillon N, Kuo N, Robinhold C, Chan CK, Baughn AD, Valafar F. mSystems. 2021 Nov 2;6(6):e0067321. doi: 10.1128/mSystems.00673-21. Online ahead of print. PMID: 34726489
Pathogen-specific antimicrobials engineered de novo through membrane-protein biomimicry.
Simonson AW, Mongia AS, Aronson MR, Alumasa JN, Chan DC, Lawanprasert A, Howe MD, Bolotsky A, Mal TK, George C, Ebrahimi A, Baughn AD, Proctor EA, Keiler KC, Medina SH. Nat Biomed Eng. 2021 May;5(5):467-480. doi: 10.1038/s41551-020-00665-x. Epub 2021 Jan 4. PMID: 33390588
Tateishi Y, Minato Y, Baughn AD, Ohnishi H, Nishiyama A, Ozeki Y, Matsumoto S. Sci Rep. 2020 Mar 25;10(1):5449. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-62287-2. PMID: 32214196
The Bewildering Antitubercular Action of Pyrazinamide.
Lamont EA, Dillon NA, Baughn AD. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev. 2020 Mar 4;84(2):e00070-19. doi: 10.1128/MMBR.00070-19. Print 2020 May 20. PMID: 32132245
Impact of the host environment on the antitubercular action of pyrazinamide.
Lamont EA, Baughn AD. EBioMedicine. 2019 Nov;49:374-380. doi: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2019.10.014. Epub 2019 Oct 25. PMID: 31669220
Revitalizing antifolates through understanding mechanisms that govern susceptibility and resistance.
Kordus SL, Baughn AD. MedChemComm. 2019 May 8;10(6):880-895. doi: 10.1039/c9md00078j. eCollection 2019 Jun 1. PMID: 31303985
Genomewide Assessment of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Conditionally Essential Metabolic Pathways.
Minato Y, Gohl DM, Thiede JM, Chacón JM, Harcombe WR, Maruyama F, Baughn AD. mSystems. 2019 Jun 25;4(4):e00070-19. doi: 10.1128/mSystems.00070-19. PMID: 31239393
Howe MD, Kordus SL, Cole MS, Bauman AA, Aldrich CC, Baughn AD, Minato Y. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2018 Nov 12;8:399. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2018.00399. eCollection 2018. PMID: 30483484
Mutual potentiation drives synergy between trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole.
Minato Y, Dawadi S, Kordus SL, Sivanandam A, Aldrich CC, Baughn AD. Nat Commun. 2018 Mar 8;9(1):1003. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-03447-x. PMID: 29520101
Alumasa JN, Manzanillo PS, Peterson ND, Lundrigan T, Baughn AD, Cox JS, Keiler KC. ACS Infect Dis. 2017 Sep 8;3(9):634-644. doi: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.7b00028. Epub 2017 Aug 7. PMID: 28762275