Li Shen, MD, PhD - LSUHSC School of Medicine

Administration	Basic Sciences	Clinical Sciences	Centers of Excellence
Admissions Alumni Affairs Community and Minority Health Education Computer Support Continuing Education Dean's Office Faculty & Institutional Affairs Fiscal Affairs Libraries Medical Education Research Student Affairs	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Cell Biology & Anatomy Genetics Microbiology, Immunology & Parasitology Pharmacology Physiology	Anesthesiology Dermatology Family Medicine Internal Medicine Emergency Medicine Gastroenterology Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Neurology Neurosurgery OB/GYN Ophthalmology Orthopaedics Otorhinolaryngology Pathology Pediatrics Psychiatry Radiology Surgery Urology	Alcohol and Drug Abuse Center Cardiovascular Center Center on Healthy Aging Center for Molecular and Human Genetics Epilepsy Center Eye Center Ernest N. Morial Asthma, Allergy, and Respiratory Disease Center Gene Therapy Program Low Vision Center Neurosciences Center The Research Institute For Children Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center

	Li Shen, MD, PhD 1901 Perdido St. Box P6-1 Microbiology, Immunology & Parasitology New Orleans, LA 70112 Phone: (504) 568-4076; Fax: (504) 568-2918 lshen@lsuhsc.edu
Degrees	MD - 1984 Chongqing University of Medical Sciences PhD - 1994 Chongqing University of Medical Sciences
Bio	Dr. Shen obtained her MD and Ph.D in Chongqing University of Medical Sciences in China. After completing her residency in Chongqing Children’s Hospital, she joined the faculty at the Department of Pediatrics in Chongqing Children’s Hospital. Later, she had postdoctoral training in molecular biology of Chlamydia with Dr. You-xun Zhang in the Maxwell Finland Laboratory for Infectious Diseases, Boston University School of Medicine. She then became Research Assistant Professor of Medicine with independent NIH-funded grant in Boston University. In 2008, she joined LSUHSC as Assistant Professor. A major focus of research involves molecular mechanism of gene expression in C. trachomatis.
Research Interests	Dr. Shen’s research interests relate to molecular biology and pathogenesis of obligate intracellular human pathogen Chlamydia. C. trachomatisis the most prevalent sexually transmitted bacterial pathogen and the preventable blindness (trachoma) worldwide. In the US alone, the annual healthcare cost associated with C. trachomatis genital infection and its consequences is more than $2 billion. C. pneumoniae has been established as a cause of human respiratory infection and has also been linked to several non-pulmonary clinical entities, including atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease. A major goal of the studies is to investigate the gene regulatory mechanisms that allow this pathogen to survive in different environments, as well as to persist within the host cells and contribute to human diseases. Molecular, biochemical, cell biological and computational tools are employed to study the control of gene expression C. trachomatis. Chlamydia undergoes a complex developmental program involving morphological conversion between two forms, the infectious elementary body (EB) and the rapidly dividing reticulate body (RB). This unique development is characterized by specific gene expression profiles, which displays a complex network of regulatory responses to the environmental changing. We focus on regulatory mechanism of developmental regulated gene expression, because ability of C. trachomatis to invade and multiply within host cells is essential for pathogenesis. Current projects in the lab include study on biological role of sigma factors of RNA polymerase, the key enzyme for transcription initiation and characterization of CT663, a newly-identified transcription regulator that negatively regulates RNA polymerase containing major sigma factor. Our study of these genes has provided new insights into the mechanism of transcription initiation and promoter recognition in this medically important pathogen.
Teaching Activities	Advanced Bacteriology
Selected Publications	1. Rao, X., Deighan P., Hua Z., Wang, J., Liang Y., Zhong, G., Hochschild, Ann., and Shen, L. 2009. A developmental regulator from Chlamydia trachomatis modulates the activity of RNA polymerase through direct interaction with the β subunit and the primary σ subunit. Submitted 2. Hua Z, Rao X, Feng X, Luo X, Liang Y, Shen L. 2009. Mutagenesis of region 4 of sigma 28 from Chlamydia trachomatis defines determinants for protein-protein and protein-DNA interactions.J Bacteriol. 191:651-60. 3. Kawana K, Matsumoto J, Miura S, Shen L, Kawana Y, Takeshi Nagamatsu, Yasugi T, Tomoyuki Fujii, Huixia Yang, Alison J Quayle, Yuji Taketani, Danny J Schust. 2008. Expression of CD1d and ligand-induced cytokine production are tissue-specific in mucosal epithelia of the human lower reproductive tract. Infect Immun.76:3011-8. 4. Kawana K, Quayle AJ, Ficarra M, Ibana JA, Shen L, Kawana Y, Yang H, Marrero L, Yavagal S, Greene SJ, Zhang YX, Pyles RB, Blumberg RS, Schust DJ. 2007. CD1D degradation in Chlamydia trachomatis-infected epithelial cells is the result of both cellular and chlamydial proteasomal activity. J Biol Chem. 282: 7368-75. 5. Shen L, Feng X, Yuan Y, Luo X, Hatch T. P., HughesH, Liu J, Zhang YX. 2006. Selective promoter recognition by RNA polymerase containing chlamydial σ²⁸. J Bacteriol.188: 7364-77. 6. Shen L, Feng X, Yuan Y, Hughes, Liu SJ, Zhang Y. 2006. Comparative analysis of promoter recognition by RNA polymerase containing chlamydial σ²⁸. Chlamydia infections. In M Chernesky (ed.), Chlamydia infections: proceedings of eleventh international symposium of human chlamydial infections, pp 49-51. 7. Wang Y, Berg EA, Feng X, Shen L, Smith T, Costello CE, and Zhang YX. 2006. *Identification of surface-exposed components of MOMP of Chlamydia trachomatis serovar F. Protein Sci.15:122-34. 8. Shen L, Li M, Zhang YX. 2004. Chlamydia trachomatis* sigma28 recognizes the fliC promoter of Escherichia coli and responds to heat shock in chlamydiae. Microbiology. 150:205-15. 9. Herrera VL, Shen L, Lopez LV, Didishvili T, Zhang YX, Ruiz-Opazo N. 2003. Chlamydia pneumoniae accelerates coronary artery disease progression in transgenic hyperlipidemia-genetic hypertension rat model. Mol Med. 9:135-42. 10. Shen L, Shi Y, Doughlas AL, Hatch TP, O’Connell CM, Chen J-M, and Zhang Y-X. 2000. Identification and characterization of promoters regulating tuf expression in Chlamydia trachomatis serovar F. Arch Biochem. Biophys. 379:46-56. 11. Zhang Y-X, Tao J, Zhou M, Zhang L, Meng Q, Shen L, Klein R, and Miller DL. 1997. Elongation factor Ts of Chlamydia trachomatis: structure of the gene and property of the protein. Arch. Biochem.Biophy.344: 43. 12. Rasmussen S. J., Eckmann L, Quayle AJ, Shen L, Zhang YX, Anderson DJ, Fierer J, Stephens RS, and Kagnoff MF. 1997. Infection of cultured epithelial cells with Chlamydia induces secretion of chemoattractant and proinflammatory cytokins. J. Clin. Invest.99:77.