Meredith A. Preuss, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Medicine
Division of Human Gene Therapy

410 BMRII
901 19th Street South
Birmingham, AL 35294

mpreuss@uab.edu
phone: +1-205-975 0172
fax: +1-205-975 8565

Research Interests

The endothelium has been recognized as a key mediator of various disease processes in cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases. Thus, these cells are an attractive target for gene therapy. Adenoviral vectors are well suited for gene therapy in these instances due to its favorable safety profile and high transgene capacity. However, the utility of adenovirus for endothelial targeting has been limited by a paucity of endothelial tissue specific promoters that will limit transgene expression in non-target tissues such as the liver. In this regard, we are investigating candidate endothelial promoters that give high transgene expression in vascular endothelial cells in vivo and limit liver gene expression which has been shown to lead to toxicity. Further, using the above described technology to target endothelial cells in vivo, we are investigating the effect of various therapeutic genes for pulmonary hypertension. In these studies, we are studying the ability of targeted potent vasodilators to improve lung morphology and reduce oxidative stress. Other research interests include, targeting to the proliferating endothelium of tumors, capsid modified viruses for endothelial targeting and the use of adenovirus as a tool for introducing interfering RNAs (RNAi).

Select List of Publications

  1. M.Preuss, G.D.Girnun, C.J.Darby, N.Khoo, A.A.Spector, and M.E.C.Robbins. 2000. Role of Antioxidant Enzyme Expression in the Selective Cytotoxic Response of Glioma Cells to g-Linolenic Acid Supplementation. Free Radicals in Biology and Medicine. 28(7):1143-1156.

  2. DE Williard, SD Harmon, MA Preuss, TL Kaduce, SA Moore, AA Spector. 2001. Production and Release of Docosohexaenoic Acid by Differentiated Rat Brain Astrocytes. Fatty Acids and Lipids - New Findings. World Rev Nutr Diet Basel, Karger. 88:168-172

  3. DE Williard, SD Harmon, TL Kaduce, MA Preuss, SA Moore, MEC Robbins, AA Spector. 2001. Docosahexaenoic acid synthesis from n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in differentiated rat brain astrocytes. Journal of Lipid Research. 42:1368-1376.

  4. MA Preuss, JT Lam, M Wang, CA Leath, M Kataram, PJ Mahasreshti, RD Alvarez, DT Curiel. 2004. Transcriptional Blocks Limit Adenoviral Replication in Primary Ovarian Tumor. Clin Ca Res. 10(9):3189-3194.

  5. Zeng B Zhu, Sharmila K Makhija, Baogen Lu, Minghui Wang, Angel A Rivera, Meredith Preuss, Fen Zhou, Gene P. Siegal, Ronald D Alvarez, and David T Curiel. 2004. Transport across a polarized monolayer of Caco-2 cells by transferrin receptor-mediated adenovirus transcytosis. Virology. 325(1):116-28.

  6. ME Everts, SA Kim-Park, MA Preuss, MJ Passineau, JN Glasgow, PJ Mahasreshti, WE Grizzle, PN Reynolds, DT Curiel. 2005. Selective induction of tumor-associated antigens in murine pulmonary vasculature using double-targeted adenoviral vectors. Gene Ther. Jul;12(13):1042-8.

  7. ME Everts, V Saini, JL Leddon, RJ Kok, M Stoff-Khalili, MA Preuss, CL Millican, G Perkins, JM Brown, H Bagaria, DE Nikles, DT Johnson, VP Zharov, DT Curiel. 2006. Covalently linked Au nanoparticles to a viral vector: potential for combined photothermal and gene cancer therapy. Nano Lett. Apr 12;6(4):587-591.

  8. M.Preuss and D.T.Curiel. 2007. Gene Therapy: Science Fiction or Reality. Southern Med J. Jan:100(1):101-4.

  9. Paul CP, Everts M, Dent P, Fisher PB, Ulasov IV, Lesniak MS, Stoff-Khalili MA, Roth JC, Glasgow JN, Preuss MA, Dirven CM, Lamfers ML, Siegal GP, Zhu ZB, Curiel DT. 2007. Characterization of Infectivity of Knob-Modified Adenoviral Vectors in Glioma. Cancer Biol Ther. Dec 13;7(3).

  10. MA.Preuss, J.N.Glasgow, M.Everts, M.Stoff-Khalili, H.Wu, and D.T.Curiel. 2008. Enhanced Gene Delivery to Endothelial Cells using Tropism-Modified Adenovirus Vectors. The Open Gene Therapy Journal. 1:7-11.


Biosketch

Current Positions

2007 - present Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Human Gene Therapy, Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)

Previous Position

2004 Adjunct Professor of Anatomy and Physiology, Jefferson State Community College

Academic Degrees

1997 B.S. (Biology), Stetson University, Deland, FL
2002 Ph.D., Free Radical and Radiation Biology), University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

Postdoctoral Training

2002 - 2007 Mentor: David T. Curiel
University of Alabama at Birmingham Division of Human Gene Therapy

Awards

1995 - 1997 Dean's Scholarship. Stetson University.
2001 Young Investigator. Society for Free Radical and Radiation Biology.
2005 Office of Postdoctoral Education Career Enhancement Award.
2006 NIH Travel Award. Evolution of Pulmonary Hypertension: Emerging Diseases and Novel Therapeutics Meeting.
2007 The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation North Central Alabama Affiliate Travel Grant.

Administrative Duties DHGT

Management of Laboratory Operations (Division of Human Gene Therapy) including IACUC, OHS, and radiation safety compliance.