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Research
Current Projects by Principal Investigator
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Research
Lei Lu  , MD
Instructor in Pediatrics
Curriculum Vita
The focus of my work is to understand the molecular mechanisms involved in the developmental regulation of interaction between immature human enterocytes and enteric bacteria, as well as their enterotoxins on the mucosal surfaces. I am particularly interested in the interaction between immature enterocytes and cholera toxin, the agent that causes severe secretary diarrhea in humans, specifically in identifying the molecules involved in cholera toxin response, including surface interaction with its receptor GM1, endocytosis of the toxin and its intracellular trafficking and signaling, and in characterizing the mechanisms that regulate the host enterocyte plasma membrane maturation. The information derived from these studies will shed light on the pathogenesis of bacterial infectious diseases and will pave the way for new approaches for prevention.
Using cholera toxin as a macromolecular probe, we have established a paradigm for the role of endocytosis in disease expression. Using this paradigm, we have shown that the increased severity of age-related toxigenic diarrhea is associated with the developmental regulation of endocytosis in the human intestine. We have begun to establish a molecular basis for the developmental regulation of endocytosis in toxigenic diarrhea. We have also begun to use an established trophic factor, hydrocortisone, to assess developmental role in the control of CT-uptake and signaling during gut maturation. |
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