Kafatos:Michel, Kristin

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I was a research associate in the Kafatos/Christophides Lab from 2002 to 2007 at EMBL, Heidelberg and Imperial College, London.
I am now assistant professor in the Division of Biology at Kansas State University. KSU

Research Interests

My research interests are directed primarily toward the role of the innate immune system in the insect vector during host-parasite interactions in a variety of interrelated areas:

• Regulation of humoral innate immune responses in the insect vector by serine protease inhibitors
• The role of immune responsive organs, especially the insect blood cells (hemocytes), in the recognition, modulation and initiation of effector systems
• The interplay of immune responsive organs (midgut, fat body, and hemocytes) and the potential role of cytokines in this interplay
  

Other areas of interest include:

• Hematopoiesis in insects
• Evolution of immunity genes

Education

2002 PhD in Entomology, University of California Riverside, CA, USA
1995 MSc in Biology, Christian-Albrechts-University, Kiel, Germany

Publications

1. Cohuet A, Osta MA, Morlais I, Awono-Ambene PH, Michel K, Simard F, Christophides GK, Fontenille D, and Kafatos FC. Anopheles and Plasmodium: from laboratory models to natural systems in the field. EMBO Rep 2006 Dec; 7(12) 1285-9. doi:10.1038/sj.embor.7400831 pmid:17099691. PubMed HubMed [Cohuet2006]
2. Michel K, Suwanchaichinda C, Morlais I, Lambrechts L, Cohuet A, Awono-Ambene PH, Simard F, Fontenille D, Kanost MR, and Kafatos FC. Increased melanizing activity in Anopheles gambiae does not affect development of Plasmodium falciparum. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2006 Nov 7; 103(45) 16858-63. doi:10.1073/pnas.0608033103 pmid:17065316. PubMed HubMed [Michel2006]
3. Abraham EG, Pinto SB, Ghosh A, Vanlandingham DL, Budd A, Higgs S, Kafatos FC, Jacobs-Lorena M, and Michel K. An immune-responsive serpin, SRPN6, mediates mosquito defense against malaria parasites. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2005 Nov 8; 102(45) 16327-32. doi:10.1073/pnas.0508335102 pmid:16260729. PubMed HubMed [Abraham2005]
4. Michel K, Budd A, Pinto S, Gibson TJ, and Kafatos FC. Anopheles gambiae SRPN2 facilitates midgut invasion by the malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei. EMBO Rep 2005 Sep; 6(9) 891-7. doi:10.1038/sj.embor.7400478 pmid:16113656. PubMed HubMed [Michel2005]
5. Moita LF, Wang-Sattler R, Michel K, Zimmermann T, Blandin S, Levashina EA, and Kafatos FC. In vivo identification of novel regulators and conserved pathways of phagocytosis in A. gambiae. Immunity 2005 Jul; 23(1) 65-73. doi:10.1016/j.immuni.2005.05.006 pmid:16039580. PubMed HubMed [Moita2005]
6. Michel K and Kafatos FC. Mosquito immunity against Plasmodium. Insect Biochem Mol Biol 2005 Jul; 35(7) 677-89. doi:10.1016/j.ibmb.2005.02.009 pmid:15894185. PubMed HubMed [Michel2005a]
7. Michel K, O'Brochta DA, and Atkinson PW. The C-terminus of the Hermes transposase contains a protein multimerization domain. Insect Biochem Mol Biol 2003 Oct; 33(10) 959-70. pmid:14505689. PubMed HubMed [Michel2003]
8. Michel K and Atkinson PW. Nuclear localization of the Hermes transposase depends on basic amino acid residues at the N-terminus of the protein. J Cell Biochem 2003 Jul 1; 89(4) 778-90. doi:10.1002/jcb.10554 pmid:12858343. PubMed HubMed [Michel2003a]
9. Christophides GK, Zdobnov E, Barillas-Mury C, Birney E, Blandin S, Blass C, Brey PT, Collins FH, Danielli A, Dimopoulos G, Hetru C, Hoa NT, Hoffmann JA, Kanzok SM, Letunic I, Levashina EA, Loukeris TG, Lycett G, Meister S, Michel K, Moita LF, Müller HM, Osta MA, Paskewitz SM, Reichhart JM, Rzhetsky A, Troxler L, Vernick KD, Vlachou D, Volz J, von Mering C, Xu J, Zheng L, Bork P, and Kafatos FC. Immunity-related genes and gene families in Anopheles gambiae. Science 2002 Oct 4; 298(5591) 159-65. doi:10.1126/science.1077136 pmid:12364793. PubMed HubMed [Christophides2002]
10. Michel K, O'Brochta DA, and Atkinson PW. Does the proposed DSE motif form the active center in the Hermes transposase?. Gene 2002 Oct 2; 298(2) 141-6. pmid:12426102. PubMed HubMed [Michel2002]
11. Atkinson PW and Michel K. What's buzzing? Mosquito genomics and transgenic mosquitoes. Genesis 2002 Jan; 32(1) 42-8. pmid:11835673. PubMed HubMed [Atkinson2002]
12. Michel K, Stamenova A, Pinkerton AC, Franz G, Robinson AS, Gariou-Papalexiou A, Zacharopoulou A, O'Brochta DA, and Atkinson PW. Hermes-mediated germ-line transformation of the Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata. Insect Mol Biol 2001 Apr; 10(2) 155-62. pmid:11422511. PubMed HubMed [Michel2001]
13. Pinkerton AC, Michel K, O'Brochta DA, and Atkinson PW. Green fluorescent protein as a genetic marker in transgenic Aedes aegypti. Insect Mol Biol 2000 Feb; 9(1) 1-10. pmid:10672065. PubMed HubMed [Pinkerton2000]
14. Michel K, Roth S, Trautwein C, Gong W, Flemming P, and Gressner AM. Analysis of the expression pattern of the latent transforming growth factor beta binding protein isoforms in normal and diseased human liver reveals a new splice variant missing the proteinase-sensitive hinge region. Hepatology 1998 Jun; 27(6) 1592-9. doi:10.1002/hep.510270619 pmid:9620332. PubMed HubMed [Michel1998]
15. Roth S, Michel K, and Gressner AM. (Latent) transforming growth factor beta in liver parenchymal cells, its injury-dependent release, and paracrine effects on rat hepatic stellate cells. Hepatology 1998 Apr; 27(4) 1003-12. doi:10.1002/hep.510270416 pmid:9537440. PubMed HubMed [Roth1998]
16. Gong W, Roth S, Michel K, and Gressner AM. Isoforms and splice variant of transforming growth factor beta-binding protein in rat hepatic stellate cells. Gastroenterology 1998 Feb; 114(2) 352-63. pmid:9453497. PubMed HubMed [Gong1998]

All Medline abstracts: PubMed HubMed