Bang Shen

Ph.D., Professor. School of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University

Academic career

2005 – 2010 Ph.D (Microbiology and Molecular Genetics) University of Kansas Medical Centre, USA

2001 – 2005  Bachelor of Science (Biology) Wuhan University, China

Research experience

2014 – Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China

2010 – 2014 Postdoctoral fellow (Molecular Parasitology) 

            Washington University in St Louis, MO, USA

Current areas of research

Molecular mechanisms governing Toxoplasma parasitism and pathogenesis; carbon metabolism and its regulation; molecular mechanisms that control the transition of acute infection to chronic infection; design of live attenuated anti-toxoplasmic vaccines for animals.  

Extramural grants

2016-2019 Function and regulation mechanisms of lactate dehydrogenase LDH2 during Toxoplasma bradyzoite differentiation and development: NSFC# 31572508

2017-2020 On site diagnosis and vaccine design for animal toxoplasmosis: No. 2017YFD0501304 from National Key Research and Development Program of China.

2017-2020 Mechanisms governing the intracellular growth and development of parasitic protozoa: No. 2017YFD0500402 from National Key Research and Development Program of China.

2019-2021 Veterinary Parasitology: NSFC# 31822054 

2020-2022 Mechanisms and significance of inter-organelle pyruvate transport in Toxoplasma gondii. NSFC# 31961133032

Selected publications (*corresponding author)

Xia N, Ye S, Liang X, Chen P, Zhou Y, Fang R, Zhao J, Gupta N, Yang S, Yuan J, Shen B*. Pyruvate Homeostasis as a Determinant of Parasite Growth and Metabolic Plasticity in Toxoplasma gondii. MBio. 2019 Jun 11;10(3). pii: e00898-19. doi: 10.1128/mBio.00898-19.

Pan M, Li M, Li L, Song Y, Hou L, Zhao J, Shen B* (2019). Identification of Novel Dense-Granule Proteins in Toxoplasma gondii by Two Proximity-Based Biotinylation Approaches. Journal of Proteome Research, 18: 319−330

Xia N, Yang J, Ye S, Zhang L, Zhou Y, Zhao J, David Sibley L, Shen B* (2018). Functional analysis of Toxoplasma lactate dehydrogenases suggests critical roles of lactate fermentation for parasite growth in vivo. Cellular Microbiology, 20(1)

Xia N, Zhou T, Liang X, Ye S, Zhao P, Yang J, Zhou Y, Zhao J, Shen B* (2018). A Lactate Fermentation Mutant of Toxoplasma Stimulates Protective Immunity Against Acute and Chronic Toxoplasmosis. Frontiers in Immunology, 9:1814

Yang J, Zhang L, Diao H, Xia N, Zhou Y, Zhao J, Shen B* (2017). ANK1 and DnaK-TPR, Two Tetratricopeptide Repeat-Containing Proteins Primarily Expressed in Toxoplasma Bradyzoites, Do Not Contribute to Bradyzoite Differentiation. Frontiers in Microbiology, 13;8:2210

Shen B, Brown K, Long S, Sibley LD* (2017). Development of CRISPR/Cas9 for Efficient Genome Editing in Toxoplasma gondii. Methods Mol Biol, 1498:79-103

Wang JL, Huang SY, Behnke MS, Chen K, Shen B*, Zhu XQ* (2016). The Past, Present, and Future of Genetic Manipulation in Toxoplasma gondii. Trends in Parasitology, 32(7):542-553

Shen B & L David Sibley* (2014). Toxoplasma aldolase is required for metabolism but dispensable for host cell invasion. PNAS. 111(9):3567-72

Shen B, Kevin Brown, Tobie D Lee & L David Sibley* (2014). Efficient gene disruption in diverse strains of Toxoplasma gondii using CRISPR/CAS9. mBio, 13;5(3):e01114-14

Shen B, Jeffrey S. Buguliskis, Tobie D. Lee & L. David Sibley* (2014). Functional analysis of rhomboid proteases during Toxoplasma invasion. mBio, 21;5(5):e01795-14

Shen B & L David Sibley* (2012). The moving junction, a key portal to host cell invasion by apicomplexan parasites. Current Opinion in Microbiology, 15(4):449-55