Education

PhD, Institute for Molecular Biology and Genetics (Kiev, Ukraine), 1990

BS, Kiev State University (Ukraine), 1992

Research Interest

My research experience mostly involved different aspects of DNA or RNA modifications, including multiple variation of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) use for gene assembly purposes, DNA restriction and polymorphism analysis, Southern, Western, and Northern blot analyses. Currently, the research emphasis is mostly toward use of herpes virus vectors for cancer and vaccine purposes of animals and humans and use of the next generation sequencing (NGS) technology to investigate host-pathogen interactions. As part of the LSU team I was actively involved in developing a protocol designed for the SARS-CoV-2 detection within the city of Baton Rouge, as well as LSU campus sewage samples.

Publications

Musarrat F, Chouljenko V, Kousoulas KG.J Virol. 2021. Cellular and Viral Determinants of HSV-1 Entry and Intracellular Transport towards Nucleus of Infected Cells. J Virol. 2021 Jan 20;95(7):e02434-20. doi: 10.1128/JVI.02434-20. Online ahead of print.

Jambunathan N, Clark CM, Musarrat F, Chouljenko VN, Rudd J, Kousoulas KG.2021. Two Sides to Every Story: Herpes Simplex Type-1 Viral Glycoproteins gB, gD, gH/gL, gK, and Cellular Receptors Function as Key Players in Membrane Fusion.Viruses. 2021 Sep 16;13(9):1849. doi: 10.3390/v13091849

Nabi R, Lewin AC, Collantes TM, Chouljenko VN, Kousoulas KG.2021. Intramuscular Vaccination With the HSV-1(VC2) Live-Attenuated Vaccine Strain Confers Protection Against Viral Ocular Immunopathogenesis Associated With γδT Cell Intracorneal Infiltration.Front Immunol. 2021 Nov 15;12:789454. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.789454. eCollection 2021.

Musarrat F, Chouljenko V, Dahal A, Nabi R, Chouljenko T, Jois SD, Kousoulas KG.2020.The anti-HIV drug nelfinavir mesylate (Viracept) is a potent inhibitor of cell fusion caused by the SARSCoV-2 spike (S) glycoprotein warranting further evaluation as an antiviral against COVID-19 infections. J Med Virol. 2020 Oct;92(10):2087-2095. doi: 10.1002/jmv.25985. Epub 2020 May 17.

Naidu SK, Nabi R, Cheemarla NR, Stanfield BA, Rider PJ, Jambunathan N, Chouljenko VN, Carter R, Del Piero F, Langohr I, Kousoulas KG.2020.Intramuscular vaccination of mice with the human herpes simplex virus type-1(HSV-1) VC2 vaccine, but not its parental strain HSV-1(F) confers full protection against lethal ocular HSV-1 (McKrae) pathogenesis.PLoS One. 2020 Feb 6;15(2):e0228252. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0228252. eCollection 2020.

Caskey JR, Hasenkampf NR, Martin DS, Chouljenko VN, Subramanian R, Cheslock MA, Embers ME.2019.The Functional and Molecular Effects of Doxycycline Treatment on Borrelia burgdorferiPhenotype. Front Microbiol. 2019 Apr 18;10:690. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.00690. eCollection 2019.

Musarrat F, Jambunathan N, Rider PJF, Chouljenko VN, Kousoulas KG.2018.The Amino Terminus of Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Glycoprotein K (gK) Is Required for gB Binding to Akt, Release of Intracellular Calcium, and Fusion of the Viral Envelope with Plasma Membranes.J Virol. 2018 Feb 26;92(6):e01842-17. doi: 10.1128/JVI.01842-17. Print 2018 Mar 15.

Sharma R, Singh P, Pena M, Subramanian R, Chouljenko V, Kim J, Kim N, Caskey J, Baudena MA, Adams LB, Truman RW. 2018. Differential growth of Mycobacterium leprae strains (SNP genotypes) in armadillos.Infect Genet Evol. 2018 Aug;62:20-26. doi:10.1016/j.meegid.2018.04.017. Epub 2018 Apr 14.

Rider PJF, Naderi M, Bergeron S, Chouljenko VN, Brylinski M, Kousoulas KG.2017.Cysteines and N-Glycosylation Sites Conserved among All Alphaherpesviruses Regulate Membrane Fusion in Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Infection.

J Virol. 2017 Oct 13;91(21):e00873-17. doi: 10.1128/JVI.00873-17. Print 2017 Nov Chouljenko, D. V., N. Jambunathan, V. N. Chouljenko, M. Naderi, M. Brylinski, J. R. Caskey, and K. G. Kousoulas. 2016. Herpes simplex virus type 1 UL37 proteine tyrosine residues conserved among all alphaherpesviruses are required for interactions with glycoprotein K (gK), cytoplasmic virion envelopment, and infectious virus production. J Virol. 2016 Sep 14. pii: JVI.01202-16 [Epub ahead of print].

Grant Funding

2P20-GM103424-19, Kousoulas (PI), 09/25/01 -04/30/25, Role: Co-Investigator (3.0 calendar months effort), NIH:NIGMS, $2,530,784. Louisiana Biomedical Research Network (LBRN): This is a multi-institutional training grant focused on selected primarily undergraduate institutions within Louisiana. Support and mentoring for faculty and undergraduate and graduate students is organized through LSU, Baton Rouge.

1P20GM130555-02, Jeyaseelan (PI), 01/02/2019 -12/31/2023, Role: Co-Investigator (2.4 calendar months effort), NIH:NIGMS, $2,251,189. Center for Lung Biology and Disease: The objective of this proposal is to establish a Center of Excellence (COE) in Pulmonary Diseases that is highly interactive and consists of a dynamic group of junior investigators whose research focus is on understanding the molecular and cellular immunological mechanisms associated with the pathogenesis if lung diseases.

NIH:NIGMS1P20 GM135000-01A1, Cardin (PI), 01/01/2021 -12/31/2025, Role: Co-Investigator (2.4 Calendar months effort), NIH:NIGMS, $799,385. Center for Pre-Clinical Cancer Research: The Center for Pre-Clinical Cancer Research (Cancer COBRE) aims to identify clinically relevant mechanisms of human cancer disease using models that closely reflect the disease state in the context of the tumor microenvironment.