James H. McKerrow, MD, PhD
Research Interests
The major focus of my laboratory is the pathogenesis of hepatic schistosomiasis. Schistosomes are bloodflukes that infect over 200 million people worldwide. The most severe sequelae of schistosomiasis is hepatic disease, characterized by granuloma formation and fibrosis, which may lead to portal hypertension and death. A central question concerns the way in which schistosome infection is initiated in the host. Our group has performed proteomic analyses of the secretory products of invading schistosome larvae, and identified host proteins that are part of the innate and immune defense against larval invasion. We have also identified key host immune factors that remarkably appear to promote schistosome growth. Additional projects focus on parasite proteins released by eggs, which cause liver damage. Neutralization of these proteins reduces their toxic effect, and thus targeting them might prevent liver damage in the host.
Selected Publications
- McKerrow JH, Caffrey C, Kelly B, Loke P, Sajid M. Proteases in parasitic diseases. Annu Rev Pathol. 2006;1:497-536.
- Abdulla MH, Lim KC, Sajid M, McKerrow JH, Caffrey CR. Schistosomiasis mansoni: novel chemotherapy using a cysteine protease inhibitor. PLoS Med. 2007;4:e14.
- Aslam A, Quinn P, McIntosh RS, Shi J, Ghumra A, McKerrow JH, Bunting KA, Dunne DW, Doenhoff MJ, Morrison SL, Zhang K, Pleass RJ. Proteases from Schistosoma mansoni cercariae cleave IgE at solvent exposed interdomain regions. Mol Immunol 2008;45:567-574.
- Stack C, Caffrey CR, Donnelly SM, Seshaadri A, Lowther J, Tort J, Collin PR, Robinson MW, Xu W, McKerrow JH, Geiger S., Marion R, Brinen LS, Dalton JP. Structural and functional relationships in the virulence-associated cathepsin L proteases of the parasitic liver fluke, Fasciola hepatica. J Biol Chem 2008;283:9896-9908.
- Professor
- Pathology
- Director, Sandler Center for Basic Research in Parasitic Diseases
Research Theme
- Liver Injury and Repair
Contact Information
- james.mckerrow@
ucsf.edu - Phone: (415) 476-2940
- Phone: (415) 514-3162
- Fax: (415) 502-8193
- QB3 Byers Hall
1700 Fourth Street - Fifth Floor North, Room 508B
- San Francisco, CA. 94158
Other UCSF Affiliations
- Sandler Center for Basic Research in Parasitic Diseases
- QB3
- BMS graduate program
- Hellen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
Chemistry and Chemical Biology Graduate Program Tetrad Graduate Program