Michael D. George
Post Doctoral Fellow

email: mdgeorge@ucdavis.edu

Undergraduate Education:

• University of California, Davis
  B.S., Biological Sciences, (1987)

Graduate:

• California State University, Sacramento
  Teaching Credential: Biological and Physical Sciences (1992)
• University of California, Davis
  Ph.D., Microbiology, (2001)

Professional Memberships: American Society for Microbiology, American Association for the Advancement of Science

Fellowships: NCCFAR Post Doctoral Fellowship, UC Davis/NIH Biotechnology Fellowship, Jastro-Shields Graduate Student Fellowship

My interests lie in understanding the molecular mechanisms that characterize host response to HIV infection in humans and SIV infection in the rhesus macaque primate model. I am particularly intrigued by the dramatic change in T cell homeostasis that occurs in gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) following HIV/SIV infection. In the macaque model, a combination of severe CD4+ T cell depletion and CD8+ T cell expansion has been demonstrated in the GALT as early as two-weeks after intravenous SIV infection. The degree of CD4+ T cell depletion during early infection is often correlated to the severity of disease progression. I am utilizing high throughput technologies such as DNA microarray and proteomic analyses to determine, at the whole genome level, how host gene expression is regulated in GALT during various stages of SIV/HIV infection, and in response to anti-retroviral treatments. By elucidating phenotypic correlates of both negative (AIDS) and positive (long-term non-progressors) disease outcomes in humans and macaques, I hope to increase our understanding of HIV/SIV pathogenesis, further define the immunological relationship between human and non-human primates, evaluate the efficacy of anti-retroviral strategies at the molecular level, and identify novel potential drug targets.

Selected Publications: George MD, Reay E, Sankaran S, and Dandekar S. 2003. Effects of antiviral therapy on immune response and growth-associated gene expression profiles in intestinal mucosa of simian immunodeficiency virus infected rhesus macaques. Virology. (manuscript submitted)

George, Michael D., Sankaran, Sumathi, Reay, Elizabeth, Gelli, Angie C. and Dandekar, Satya. 2003. High-throughput gene expression profiling indicates dysregulation of intestinal cell cycle mediators and growth factors during primary simian immunodeficiency virus infection. Virology. 312:84-94.

Guan J, Stromhaug PE, George MD, Habibzadegah-Tari P, Bevan A, Dunn WA Jr, Klionsky DJ. 2001. Cvt18/Gsa12 is required for cytoplasm-to-vacuole transport, pexophagy, and autophagy in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pichia pastoris. Mol Biol Cell. 12(12):3821-38.

George MD, Baba M, Scott SV, Mizushima N, Garrison BS, Ohsumi Y, Klionsky DJ. 2000. Apg5p functions in the sequestration step in the cytoplasm-to-vacuole targeting and macroautophagy pathways. Mol Biol Cell. 11(3):969-82.

Mizushima N, Noda T, Yoshimori T, Tanaka Y, Ishii T, George MD, Klionsky DJ, Ohsumi M, Ohsumi Y. 1998. A protein conjugation system essential for autophagy. Nature. 395(6700):395-8.