Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology

Aguilar-Carreno

Assistant Professor
Email: haguilar@vetmed.wsu.edu
509-335-4410

Education and Training

Instituto Tecnologico de Tepic	B.S.	1990	Biochemical Engineering
California State University, Los Angeles	M.S.	1994	Biology
University of Southern California	Ph.D.	2002	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology / Virology

Research Interests

Entry mechanisms of highly pathogenic zoonotic viruses

Dr. Aguilar-Carreno studies the entry mechanisms of highly pathogenic zoonotic viruses into mammalian cells. Nipah virus (NiV) is an emerging virus with one of the highest mortality rates in humans (~ 75%). NiV and the closely-related Hendra virus (HeV) infect humans and livestock by animal-animal, animal-human, and human-human transmission. Dr. Aguilar-Carreno co-discovered the cell receptors required for NiV and HeV entry into cells, and his research has identified new determinants of viral entry. He is currently studying the mechanisms of receptor-induced membrane fusion, as this is a crucial step during NiV and HeV entry and during cell-cell fusion, an important determinant of NiV pathology. His research uses a broad spectrum of biochemical, cellular, molecular biology, and immunological techniques to dissect membrane fusion, entry, and immune response mechanisms that NiV and HeV utilize.
These studies will assist the formulation of inhibitors of viral entry and cell-cell fusion, and new vaccine approaches against NiV, HeV, and other members of the globally important Paramyxoviridae family.

Dr. Aguilar-Carreno serves as an Assistant Professor in the Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health and in the Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology.

Research and Professional Experience

1992-1994	Research Assistant, Department of Biology and Microbiology, California State University, Los Angeles. Actin Isoform mRNA expression in muscle development. Supervisor: Sandra Sharp.
1993-1994	Teaching Assistant: General Biology, Zoology, Botany, and Genetics. Department of Biology and Microbiology, California State University, Los Angeles.
1994-2002	Research Assistant, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Southern California, Molecular Biology of Moloney murine leukemia virus fusion in viral entry. Supervisor: Paula Cannon.
2002-2003	Chemistry Instructor, Don Bosco Technical Institute. General Chemistry and Advanced-Placement Chemistry lectures and laboratories.
2003-2008	Post-Doctoral Researcher, Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics. University of California, Los Angeles, Nipah virus entry research. Supervisor: Benhur Lee.
2008-2011	Assistant Researcher, Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics. University of California, Los Angeles, Nipah virus entry research.
2011-present	Adjunct Professor, Paul Allen School of Global Animal Health and Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University (will be appointed as tenure-track Assistant Professor starting July 1st, 2011).
Honors
1990	Graduated with Highest Scholar Honors from Instituto Tecnologico de Tepic.
1992-1994	Research Infrastructure for Minority Institutions Research Award from CSULA.
1993	Foreign Student Joseph Sacher Fellowship. California State University.
1993-1994	California State University Full Foreign Student Scholarship
2007	American Society of Virology Conference Travel Award.
2009	American Society of Virology Conference Travel Award.
Professional Societies
2005-present	Full member, American Society for Virology.
2010-present	Member, American Society of Microbiology

Selected peer-reviewed publications (in chronological order)

1. Aguilar, H. C., W. French Anderson, and Paula M. Cannon. Cytoplasmic tail of Moloney murine leukemia virus envelope protein influences the conformation of the extracellular domain: implications of mechanisms of action of the R peptide. Journal of Virology, 2003. 77(2):1281-1291.
2. Aguilar, H. C.*, E. L. Levroney*, J. Fulcher, L. Kohatsu, K. E. Pace, K. B. Gurney, L. G. Baum and B. Lee. Novel innate immune functions for galectin-1: galectin-1 inhibits cell fusion by Nipah virus envelope glycoproteins and augments dendritic cell secretion of proinflammatory cytokines. J. Immunology, 2005. 175(1):413-420.
   * Contributed equally.
3. Negrete, O.A., Levroney, E.L.*, Aguilar, H.C.*, Bertolotti-Ciarlet, A.*, Nazarian, R.*, Tajyar, S., Lee, B. EphrinB2 is the entry receptor for Nipah Virus, an emergent deadly paramyxovirus. Nature, 2005. 436(7049):401-405.
   * Contributed equally.
4.  Negrete, O.A., Wolf, M., Aguilar, H.C., Enterlein, S., Wang, W., Muhlberger, E., Su, S.V., Bertolotti-Ciarlet, A., Flick, R., Lee, B. Two key residues in ephrinB3 are critical for its use as an alternative receptor for Nipah virus. PLoS Pathogen, 2006. 2(2):78-86.
5. Aguilar, H.C., K. A. Matreyek, C. M. Filone, E. L. Levroney, A. Bertolotti-Ciarlet, O. Negrete, D. Y. Choi, , I. McHardy, J. A. Fulcher, S. V. Su, M. C. Wolf, L. Kohatsu, S. Tajyar, L. G. Baum, B. Lee. N-glycans on Nipah virus fusion protein protect against neutralization but reduce membrane fusion and viral entry. Journal of Virology, 2006. 80(10):4878-4889.
6. Schowalter, R. M., Wurth, M. A., Aguilar, H.C., Lee, B., Moncman, C. L., McCann, R. O., Dutch, R. E. Rho-GTPase activity modulates paramyxovirus protein mediated membrane fusion. Virology, 2006. 350(2):323-334.
7. Aguilar, H.C., Matreyek, K. A., Choi, D. Y., Filone, C. M., Young, S., and Lee., B. Polybasic KKR Motif in the Cytoplasmic Tail of Nipah Virus Fusion Protein Modulates Membrane Fusion by Inside-Out Signaling. Journal of Virology, 2007. 81(9):4520-4532.
8. Negrete, O.A., Chu, D., Aguilar, H.C., B. Lee. Single amino acid changes in the Nipah and Hendra virus attachment glycoprotein distinguishes ephrinB2 from ephrinB3 usage. Journal of Virology, 2007. 81(19):10804-14.
9. Rozenberg-Adler, Y., Conner, J., Aguilar-Carreno, H.C., Chakraborti, S., Dimitrov, D. S., Anderson, W.F. Membrane-proximal cytoplasmic domain of Moloney murine leukemia virus envelope tail facilitates fusion. Exp. Mol. Pathol., 2008. 84(1):18-30.
10. Aguilar, H.C.*, Akyol Ataman, Z., Aspericueta, V., Fang, A.Q., Stroud, M., Negrete, O.A., Kammerer, R.A., Lee, B.* A novel receptor-induced activation site in the Nipah virus attachment glycoprotein (G) involved in triggering the fusion glycoprotein (F). Journal of Biol. Chem., 2009. 284(3):1628-35.
    * Co-Corresponding authors.
11. Wolf, M.C., Wang, Y., Freiberg, A., Aguilar, H.C., Holbrook, M.R., Lee, B. A catalytically and genetically optimized beta-lactamase-matrix based assay for sensitive, specific, and higher throughput analysis of native henipavirus entry characteristics. Virology Journal, 2009. 6:119.
12. Wolf, M.C., Freiberg, A.N., Zhang, T., Akyol-Ataman, Z., Grock, A., Hong, P.W., Li, J., Watson, N., Fang, A.Q., Aguilar, H.C., Porotto, M., Honko, A.N., Damoiseaux, R., Miller, J.P., Woodson, S.E., Chantasirivisal, S., Fontanes, V., Negrete, O.A., Krogstad, P., Dasgupta, A., Moscona, A., Hensley, L.E., Whelan, S.P., Faull, K.F., Holbrook, M.R., Jung, M.E., Lee, B. “A broad-spectrum antiviral targeting entry of enveloped viruses” PNAS, 2010. 107(7)3157-62.
13. Garner, O., Aguilar, HC., Fulcher, JA., Levroney, E.L., Harrison, R., Wright, L., Robinson, L., Aspericueta, V., Haslam, S., Dell, A., Lee, B. and Baum, L. Endothelial galectin-1 binding to specific glycans inhibits Nipah virus fusion protein maturation, mobility, and function to block syncytia formation. PLoS Pathogens, 2010. 6(7):e10000993.
14. Aguilar, HC.*, Aspericueta, V., Robinson, L., Aanensen, K., Lee, B. A quantitative and kinetic fusion Protein-Triggering Assay can Discern Distinct Steps in the Nipah Virus Membrane Fusion Cascade. Journal of Virology, 2010. 469(10):8033-8041.
    * Corresponding author.
15. Aguilar HC., Lee, B. Emerging paramyxoviruses: molecular mechanisms and antiviral strategies. Expert Reviews in Mol. Med, 2011. 13:e6.
16. Johnson, J.B., Aguilar, H.C., Lee, B., Parks, G.D. Interaction of human complement with virus particles containing the Nipah virus glycoproteins. Journal of Virology, 2011. In Press.
17. Mirza, A.M., Aguilar, HC., Zhu, Q., Mahon, P.J., Rota, P.A., Lee, B., and Iorio, R.M. Triggering of the Newcastle disease virus fusion protein by a chimeric attachment protein that binds to Nipah virus receptors. Journal of Biol. Chem., 2011. In Press.

Publications

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