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Medical Director, Clinical MicrobiologyAssistant Professor of Pathology - Clinical Pathology
Primary Office: BW23 Veterans Affairs Medical CenterIowa City, IA 52242 Primary Office Phone: 319-338-0581
Office: 113 Veterans Affairs Medical CenterIowa City, IA 52242
Email: stacey-klutts@uiowa.eduWeb: Dr. Klutts Research Laboratory
BS, Chemistry, Missouri State University, Springfield, MOMD, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, ARPhD, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR
Residency, Washington University School of Medicine/Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis, MOPost Doctoral, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO
State of Iowa Medical License, Iowa Board of MedicineDiplomate, Clinical Pathology, American Board of Pathology
Biosciences Graduate ProgramDepartment of Pathology Graduate ProgramInterdisciplinary Graduate Program in Molecular and Cellular Biology
Research in my laboratory primarily focuses on the human pathogenic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus. This is a ubiquitous environmental mold that can cause a variety of diseases in humans, including a life-threatening invasive infection in the setting of immune compromise. Treatment options exist for invasive aspergillosis, but therapeutic failures are common with mortality rates as high as 85% in some patient populations. Currently, the main focus of the laboratory is to better understand the process of cell wall synthesis in A. fumigatus. Pathogenicity and survival of A. fumigatus in vivo requires a number of virulence factors, with the ability to generate a rigid cell wall being one of the most important. Targeting cell wall synthesis with anti-fungal therapy has been successful in the treatment of a number of fungal infections. However, identification of additional drug targets in the pathway of cell wall assembly is hindered by our limited knowledge of these synthetic mechanisms. To study cell wall synthesis, we are taking three complementary approaches. One aim is to develop enzymatic assays for monitoring the activity of glycosyltransferase enzymes likely involved in cell wall synthesis and to use these assays to purify/identify the corresponding proteins. We are also taking a forward genetic approach with the development of a mutagenesis library in A. fumigatus that will be screened for strains with cell wall defects or with the biochemical assays discussed above. Lastly, we are systematically deleting genes in A. fumigatus that we hypothesize are involved in cell wall synthesis and are studying the cell wall structures and phenotypes of these knockout strains in detail.
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Point-Counterpoint: Quantitative cultures of bronchoscopically obtained specimens should be performed for optimal management in patients with ventilator associated pneumonia. Baselski V, Klutts J. Journal of clinical microbiology. 2013 March; 51 (3) :740-44. [PubMed] Analysis of Promoter Function in Aspergillus fumigatus.. Paul S, Klutts J, Moye-Rowley W. Eukaryotic cell. 2012 September; 11 (9) :1167-77. [PubMed] A Critical Appraisal of the Role of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory in Diagnosis of Invasive Fungal Infections.. Klutts J, Robinson-Dunn B. Journal of clinical microbiology. 2011 September; 49 (9) :S39-S42. A novel xylosylphosphotransferase activity discovered in Cryptococcus neoformans.. Reilly M, Levery S, Castle S, Klutts J, Doering T. The Journal of biological chemistry. 2009 December; 284 (52) :36118-27. [PubMed] Evidence-based approach for interpretation of Epstein-Barr virus serological patterns.. Klutts J, Ford B, Perez N, Gronowski A. Journal of clinical microbiology. 2009 October (4th Quarter/Autumn); 47 (10) :3204-10. [PubMed] The structure of Cryptococcus neoformans galactoxylomannan contains beta-D-glucuronic acid.. Heiss C, Klutts J, Wang Z, Doering T, Azadi P. Carbohydrate research. 2009 May; 344 (7) :915-20. [PubMed] Diagnostic performance of a new automated heterophile antibody test in adults and children.. Klutts J, Wu A, Smith A, Yen-Lieberman B, Gronowski A. Diagnostic microbiology and infectious disease. 2008 July (3rd Quarter/Summer); 61 (3) :351-3. [PubMed] Cryptococcal xylosyltransferase 1 (Cxt1p) from Cryptococcus neoformans plays a direct role in the synthesis of capsule polysaccharides.. Klutts J, Doering T. The Journal of biological chemistry. 2008 May; 283 (21) :14327-34. [PubMed] A beta-1,2-xylosyltransferase from Cryptococcus neoformans defines a new family of glycosyltransferases.. Klutts J, Levery S, Doering T. The Journal of biological chemistry. 2007 June; 282 (24) :17890-9. [PubMed] UDP-glucose dehydrogenase plays multiple roles in the biology of the pathogenic fungus Cryptococcus neoformans.. Griffith C, Klutts J, Zhang L, Levery S, Doering T. The Journal of biological chemistry. 2004 December; 279 (49) :51669-76. [PubMed]
Date Last Modified: 03/21/2013 - 15:31:20