Mohammed Sayeedur Rahman, PhD

Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India, Chemistry, M.Sc., 1984

University of Calcutta, Calcutta, India, Chemistry, Ph.D. 1994

New Jersey School of Medicine, NJ, USA, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Post-Doctoral Fellow, 1994-1999

University of Maryland Baltimore County, MD, USA, Department of Biological Sciences, Post-Doctoral Fellow, 1999-2001

University of Maryland School of Medicine, MD, USA, Department of Microbilogy and Immunology, Post-Doctoral Fellow, 2001- 2005.

In 2001, Dr. Rahman started working in the field of Rickettsiology in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. His research on Rickettsia spp. mainly involved the characterization of protein secretion mechanism and infection of host cells by induced phagocytosis. His research resulted in functional characterization of many protein translocation pathway-specific molecules and secreted proteins involved in the rickettsial infection process. Currently, Dr. Rahman is investigating rickettsial outer surface and effector proteins, with particular emphasis on their interactions with host components for adherence, internalization, intracellular growth. Knowledge gained from this work will contribute to the overall understanding of how intracellular pathogens inflict damage, and illuminate potential targets for development of therapeutics to combat fatal rickettsial diseases.

Microbiology, Bacteriology, Rickettsia, Molecular Biology, Genetics, Transcriptome, Protein Secretion pathways, Secretome, Interactome, Virulence, Pathogenesis, Arthropods, Ticks, Fleas, Body Lice, Epidemic Typhus, Murine Typhus, Spotted Fever and Transitional Group rickettsiae

1. Rahman MS, Simser JA, Macaluso KR, Azad AF. Molecular and functional analysis of the lepB gene, encoding a type I signal peptidase from Rickettsia rickettsii and Rickettsia typhi. J Bacteriol. 2003 Aug;185(15):4578-84. PubMed PMID: 12867468; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC165774.
2. Rahman MS, Simser JA, Macaluso KR, Azad AF. Functional analysis of secA homologues from rickettsiae. Microbiology. 2005 Feb;151(Pt 2):589-96. PubMed PMID: 15699207.
3. Rahman MS, Ceraul SM, Dreher-Lesnick SM, Beier MS, Azad AF. The lspA gene, encoding the type II signal peptidase of Rickettsia typhi: transcriptional and functional analysis. J Bacteriol. 2007 Jan;189(2):336-41. PubMed PMID: 17098907; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC1797390.
4. Rahman MS, Ammerman NC, Sears KT, Ceraul SM, Azad AF. Functional characterization of a phospholipase A(2) homolog from Rickettsia typhi. J Bacteriol. 2010 Jul;192(13):3294-303. doi: 10.1128/JB.00155-10. PubMed PMID: 20435729; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2897650.
5. Kaur SJ, Rahman MS, Ammerman NC, Beier-Sexton M, Ceraul SM, Gillespie JJ, Azad AF. TolC-dependent secretion of an ankyrin repeat-containing protein of Rickettsia typhi. J Bacteriol. 2012 Sep;194(18):4920-32. doi: 10.1128/JB.00793-12. PubMed PMID: 22773786; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3430354.
6. Rahman MS, Gillespie JJ, Kaur SJ, Sears KT, Ceraul SM, Beier-Sexton M, Azad AF. Rickettsia typhi possesses phospholipase A2 enzymes that are involved in infection of host cells. PLoS Pathog. 2013;9(6):e1003399. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1003399. PubMed PMID: 23818842; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3688537.
7. Rennoll-Bankert KE, Rahman MS, Gillespie JJ, Guillotte ML, Kaur SJ, Lehman SS, Beier-Sexton M, Azad AF. Which Way In? The RalF Arf-GEF Orchestrates Rickettsia Host Cell Invasion. PLoS Pathog. 2015 Aug 20;11(8):e1005115. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1005115. PubMed PMID: 26291822; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4546372.
8. Rennoll-Bankert KE, Rahman MS, Guillotte ML, Lehman SS, Beier-Sexton M, Gillespie JJ, Azad AF. RalF-Mediated Activation of Arf6 Controls Rickettsia typhi Invasion by Co-Opting Phosphoinositol Metabolism. Infect Immun. 2016 Nov 18;84(12):3496-3506. PubMed PMID: 27698019.