Gaya K. Amarasinghe, PhD

Division

• Laboratory & Genomic Medicine

Additional Titles

• Professor, Molecular Microbiology
• Professor, Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics

Education

• BS, Biochemistry: City College of New York/CUNY, New York, NY (1997)
• PhD, Biochemistry: University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD (2001)

Research Lab

• Amarasinghe Lab

Recognition

• Mildred Curtman Award for Excellence in Research, Department of Chemistry, The City College of New York, New York, NY, 1996
• Cancer Research Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2002
• Early Achievement in Research Award, Iowa State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, 2010

Research Interests

The overarching goal of my research program is to define the molecular basis for host-pathogen interactions with biological consequences to pathogenesis. Interactions that promote host immune suppression and/or enhance pathogen replication in a cell and tissue specific manner form the basis of our studies. We use a multidisciplinary approach that includes biochemical analyses and biophysical studies to develop an atomic resolution framework of host microbial interactions. Insights from these studies are routinely tested in vitro and in vivo to assess the functional significance to develop mechanistic models. Our recent findings in Ebola virus, Marburg virus, Rift Valley Fever virus, and SARS-CoV-2 highlight the impact of our approach.  Importantly, these studies continue to provide us with the opportunities to train and mentor a diverse group of trainees, including undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows.

DBBS Affiliation

• Immunology (IMM)
• Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology (BBSB)
• Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis (MMMP)

Selected Publications

Leung DW, Ginder ND, Fulton DB, Nix J, Basler CF, Honzatko RB, and Amarasinghe GK. Structure of the Ebola VP35 interferon inhibitory domain. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2009;106(2):411-6. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0807854106. PubMed PMID: 19122151; PMCID: PMC2626716.

Xu W, Edwards MR, Borek DM, Feagins AR, Mittal A, Alinger JB, Berry KN, Yen B, Hamilton J, Brett TJ, Pappu RV, Leung DW, Basler CF, and Amarasinghe GK. Ebola virus VP24 targets a unique NLS binding site on karyopherin alpha 5 to selectively compete with nuclear import of phosphorylated STAT1. Cell Host Microbe. 2014;16(2):187-200. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2014.07.008. PubMed PMID: 25121748; PMCID: PMC4188415.

Brown CS, Lee MS, Leung DW, Wang T, Xu W, Luthra P, Anantpadma M, Shabman RS, Melito LM, MacMillan KS, Borek DM, Otwinowski Z, Ramanan P, Stubbs AJ, Peterson DS, Binning JM, Tonelli M, Olson MA, Davey RA, Ready JM, Basler CF, Amarasinghe GK. In silico derived small molecules bind the filovirus VP35 protein and inhibit its polymerase cofactor activity. J Mol Biol. 2014;426(10):2045-58. doi: 10.1016/j.jmb.2014.01.010. PubMed PMID: 24495995; PMCID: PMC4163021

Su Z, Wu C, Shi L, Luthra P, Pintilie GD, Johnson B, Porter JR, Ge P, Chen M, Liu G, Frederick TE, Binning JM, Bowman GR, Zhou ZH, Basler CF, Gross ML, Leung DW, Chiu W, Amarasinghe GK. Electron Cryomicroscopy Structure of Ebola Virus Nucleoprotein Reveals a Mechanism for Nucleocapsid-like Assembly. Cell. 2018;172(5):966-78 e12. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2018.02.009. PubMed PMID: 29474922.

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Assistant
Lydia Wheat
wheat@wustl.edu