Choong-Min Kang, a first-year Microbiology professor at California State University, Stanislaus, continues to study a microorganism bacterium called mycobacterium tuberculosis, which results in the disease Tuberculosis (TB).
This bacterium can result in the bacteria attacking the lungs, or any other parts of the body, such as the kidney, brain and spine. When not treated properly, this disease can be fatal, taking the lives of two million people per year.
The risk of TB is higher when a person is infected with HIV. The HIV itself is not fully responsible for patients dying. Instead, about 40 percent of these patients are killed due to TB. This happens because patients who suffer from a low immune system are more vulnerable against the disease.
“I’m not a medical doctor. I have a Ph.D, but I’m interested in some basic mechanisms by which these microorganisms cause diseases.” Kang said. “Hopefully if I study further, I can find some drugs to kill this bacteria.”
In Kang’s study, the focus is on two protein kinases, called PknA and PknB. Human beings have these protein kinases. Tuberculosis has eleven protein kinases.
Protein kinases is the process in which the kinase enzyme alters the other proteins by adding phosphate groups to them, a process called phosphorylation. It is responsible for the activity, location, and function of these proteins, which helps regulate cell functions.
“That’s why I’m studying PknA and PknB,” Kang said. “Since these are kinases and are essential, we cannot genetically delete them. Once we have more of an understanding of the proteins that are modified by these kinases, we can get an idea of the kinase themselves.”
A second project being explored by Kang is the chemical FK506, a human suppressant. A transplant patient is normally prescribed this drug by his or her doctor. This drug helps suppress the immune system to prevent the patient from having a bad reaction to the tissues or organs that the person is being given by a donor.
For more info, Kang can be contacted at [email protected],or by phone: 209-667-3484.