Gyanu Lamichhane, PhD

Highlights

Languages

English

Gender

Male

Johns Hopkins Affiliations:

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Faculty

About Gyanu Lamichhane

Primary Academic Title

Associate Professor of Medicine

Background

Dr. Gyanu Lamichhane is an Associate Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His research focuses on the bacterial cell wall physiology in relevance to diseases in humans. He studies basic mechanisms associated with cell walls, but with an intent to leverage findings to develop tools that will be useful in the clinic. His group devotes significant effort on developing new strategies to treat mycobacterial diseases. Additionally, a new and significant effort of his research is fundamental but understudied mechanisms that lead to antibacterial resistance.

Lab Website

Lamichhane Lab - Lab Website

Our research focuses on the biology of the peptidoglycan of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the organism that causes tuberculosis, and Mycobacteroides abscessus, a related bacterium that causes opportunistic infections. We study basic mechanisms associated with peptidoglycan physiology but with an intent to leverage our findings to develop tools that will be useful in the clinic to treat mycobacterial infections. Peptidoglycan is the exoskeleton of bacteria that not only provides structural rigidity and cell shape but also several vital physiological functions. Breaching this structure is often lethal to bacteria. We are exploring fundamental mechanisms by which bacteria synthesize and preserve their peptidoglycan. Although our lab uses genetic, biochemical and biophysical approaches to study the peptidoglycan, we pursue questions irrespective of the expertise required to answer those questions. It is through these studies that we identified synergy between two beta-lactam antibiotics against select mycobacteria.

Selected Publications

Gupta R, Lavollay M, Mainardi J, Arthur M, Bishai WR, Lamichhane G. The Mycobacterium tuberculosis gene, ldtMt2, encodes a non-classical transpeptidase required for virulence and resistance to amoxicillin. Nature Medicine. 2010; 16, 466-9. PMID:20305661
Kumar P, Kaushik A, Lloyd EP, Li SG, Mattoo R, Ammerman NC, Lloyd DT, Perryman AL, Ekins S, Ginell SL, Townsend CA, Freundlich JS, Lamichhane G. New antibacterials targeting non-classical transpeptidases. Nature Chemical Biology. 2017. 13; 54-61. PMID 27820797
Maggioncalda EC, Story-Roller E, Mylius J, Illei P, Basaraba RJ, Lamichhane G. A mouse model of pulmonary Mycobacteroides abscessus infection. 2020. Scientific Reports. 10. PMID 32111900
Story-Roller E, Maggioncalda EC, Lamichhane G. Select β-lactam combinations exhibit synergy against Mycobacterium abscessus in vitro. 2019. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. 63 (4) e02613-18 PMID 30745389