Faculty

Ferric C. Fang, MD

• Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Microbiology
• Adjunct Professor of Medicine (Infectious Diseases)

The Fang laboratory studies a broad range of topics in bacterial pathogenesis, with a particular focus on phagocyte-pathogen interactions. Specific projects include the antimicrobial actions of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species in Salmonella enterica and Staphylococcus aureus pathogenesis, iron metabolism in host-pathogen interactions, control of Salmonella virulence gene expression by alternative sigma factors and other transcriptional regulators, and the pathogenesis of human typhoid. Using a genomic approach, the Fang laboratory discovered "xenogeneic silencing," a mechanism by which bacteria recognize and integrate foreign DNA into pre-existing regulatory networks. Professor Fang also oversees the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory of the 413-bed Harborview Medical Center, where he is working on molecular methods for improved diagnosis of bacterial infections.

Selected Publications

Navarre WW, Porwollik S, Wang Y, McClelland M, Rosen H, Libby SJ, Fang FC. Selective silencing of foreign DNA with low GC content by the H-NS protein in Salmonella. Science. 2006 Jul 14;313(5784):236-8.
[ PubMed Abstract ]

Richardson AR, Libby SJ, Fang FC. A nitric oxide-inducible lactate dehydrogenase enables Staphylococcus aureus to resist innate immunity. Science. 2008 Mar 21;319(5870):1672-6.
[ PubMed Abstract ]

Navarre WW, Zou SB, Roy H, Xie JL, Savchenko A, Singer A, Edvokimova E, Prost LR, Kumar R, Ibba M, Fang FC. PoxA, yjeK, and elongation factor P coordinately modulate virulence and drug resistance in Salmonella enterica. Mol Cell. 2010 Jul 30;39(2):209-21.
[ PubMed Abstract ]

Libby SJ, Brehm MA, Greiner DL, Shultz LD, McClelland M, Smith KD, Cookson BT, Karlinsey JE, Kinkel TL, Porwollik S, Canals R, Cummings LA, Fang FC. Humanized nonobese diabetic-scid IL2rgammanull mice are susceptible to lethal Salmonella Typhi infection. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 Aug 31;107(35):15589-94.
[ PubMed Abstract ]

Karlinsey JE, Maguire ME, Becker LA, Crouch ML, Fang FC. The phage shock protein PspA facilitates divalent metal transport and is required for virulence of Salmonella enterica sv. Typhimurium. Mol Microbiol. 2010 Nov;78(3):669-85. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2010.07357.x.
[ PubMed Abstract ]

Richardson AR, Payne EC, Younger N, Karlinsey JE, Thomas VC, Becker LA, Navarre WW, Castor ME, Libby SJ, Fang FC. Multiple targets of nitric oxide in the tricarboxylic acid cycle of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. Cell host Microbe 2011 Jul 21:10(1):33-43.
[ PubMed Abstract ]

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