DR. JESUSA (SUSIE) ROSALES

Ph.D. University of California, Davis, Assistant Professor, Research, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,

 Affiliations: Associate Member,  Calvin, Phoebe and Joan Snyder Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation

Research Interests:

We are generally interested in neutrophil-mediated immune response to injury and infection.  The neutrophil is the first and most abundant leukocyte to be delivered to a site of inflammation or infection and thus, is an integral component of the innate immune system.  Exocytosis or secretion by neutrophils contributes to acute inflammation following injury, and is one of the strategies used by neutrophils to destroy an invading pathogen.  Our long-term goals are three-fold: (i) to understand the mechanisms of secretion by neutrophils, (ii) to understand the molecular interactions between neutrophils and pathogens that promote or inhibit neutrophil activation and destruction of the pathogen, and (iii) to identify candidate gene and protein targets for the prevention and treatment of inflammation and specific infections.  Our current interest is Streptococcus spp.: (i) S. pyogenes (group A streptococcus), which can cause diseases in humans ranging from pharyngitis (strep throat), cellulites, impetigo, and the potentially fatal necrotizing fasciitis and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS), and (ii) S. suis, a zoonotic agent that can cause meningitis, septicemia, endocarditis and STSS-like symptoms in humans, and has the potential to cause serious disease outbreaks.  We are using a combination of contemporary techniques in biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology and immunology to pursue our goals.

View Pub Med for Recent publications & abstracts

Recent Publications:

• Rosales JL, Sarker K, Ho N, Broniewska M, Wong P, Cheng M, van der Hoorn F, Lee K-Y. 2007.  Cdk5/p25 phosphorylates ODF1 and enhances ODF1-OIP1 interaction. Cell. Physiol. Biochem. 20, 311-318.
• Rosales JL, Lee K-Y. 2006.  Extraneuronal roles of Cdk5. Bioessays. 28, 1023-1034.
• Rosales JL, Ernst JD, Hallows J, Lee K-Y. 2004.  GTP-dependent secretion from neutrophils is regulated by Cdk5. J. Biol. Chem. 279, 53932-53936.
• Rosales JL, Lee B-C, Modarressi M, Sarker K, Lee KY, Jeong Y-G, Oko R, Lee K-Y. 2004.  Outer dense fibers (ODF) serve as a functional target for Cdk5.p35 in the developing sperm tail. J. Biol. Chem. 279, 1224-1232.
• Rosales JL, Han B, Lee K-Y. 2003.  Cdk7 functions as a Cdk5 activating kinase in brain. Cell. Physiol. Biochem. 13, 285-296.
• Wang XD, Rosales JL, Magliocco A, Gnanakumar R, Lee K-Y. 2003.  Cyclin E in breast tumors is cleaved into its low molecular weight forms by calpain. Oncogene 22, 769-774.
• Nguyen KC, Rosales, JL, Barboza M, Lee K-Y. 2002.  Controversies over p25 in Alzheimer's disease. J. Alzheimer's Disease 4, 123-126.
• Rosales JL, Ernst, JD. 2000.  GTP-dependent permeabilized neutrophil secretion requires a freely diffusible cytosolic protein. J. Cell. Biochem. 80, 37-45.
• Rosales, JL, Nodwell MJ, Johnston R, Lee K-Y. 2000.  Cdk5/p25nck5a interaction with synaptic proteins in bovine brain. J. Cell. Biochem. 78, 151-159.
• Rosales, JL, Lee K-Y. 2000.  Purification of dual-tagged intact recombinant proteins. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 273, 1058-1062.

Contact Information:

The University of Calgary,
Rm B05 HMRB, 3330 Hospital Dr. NW,
Calgary, AB T2N 4N1,
Phone (403) 220-2882,
Fax (403) 283-8727
E-mail: rosales [at] ucalgary [dot] ca