Illinois Directory

• PhD, Biochemistry, University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, Department of Biochemistry
• Postdoctoral Fellow, Johns Hopkins University
• MS, Biochemistry, University of Louisville, School of Medicine, Department of Biochemistry
• BS, Biology (major) Chemistry (minor), Purdue University

The long-term goals of my laboratory are to identify and exploit mechanisms of cell-cell recognition and adhesion for the development of new approaches for the prophylaxis and treatment of infectious disease as well as cancer cell metastasis. Our studies on infectious disease are focused on understanding the initial recognition, adhesion, and entry events that occur between the microbial agent and host cell during the earliest stages of host cell-pathogen interaction. We have developed in vitro assays for quantification of physiologically-relevant microbial adhesion as well as in vivo intestinal xenograft systems for testing the therapeutic efficacy of identified receptors or receptor analogues. Using this approach we identified a intestinal ganglioside receptor for porcine rotavirus and synthesized a neoglycolipid receptor mimetic that can function as nutriceutical capable of blocking both virus binding and infectivity of host cells in vitro and virus shedding and diarrhea in vivo. We are now involved in basic and translational research studies aimed at identifying and delivering naturally occurring or synthetic inhibitors of several respiratory and intestinal microbial pathogens in efforts to provide new approaches for the prophylaxis and treatment of infectious disease in animals and people using nutriceutical-based intervention strategies. Our studies on cancer cell metastasis are aimed at understanding the mechanism by which the mechanical microenviroment of the cancer cell regulates cell-cell adhesion and metastasis. Cancer deaths are primarily caused by metastasis, not the primary tumor. Cancer cells sense, process, and respond to mechanical signals, such as the degree of softness of their surrounding tissue, by regulating cell adhesion molecules and associated signal transduction processes. In collaborative studies with the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, we have discovered HCT-8 colon cancer cells develop an in vitro metastasis-like phenotype only when exposed to substrates resembling the stiffness range of target organs such as the liver, but not when exposed to conventional tissue culture plastic surfaces. This new finding suggests the onset of metastasis may occur, in part, through mechanosensing regulation of cell adhesion receptors and provides a new paradigm for exploration of novel drugs for the treatment of cancer

• Professor, Division of Nutritional Sciences
• Affiliate Professor, Agricultural and Biological Engineering

• Regulation of cancer metastasis by mechanical force (Role: Co-PI)
• Science and Technology Center: Emergent Behaviors of Integrated Cellular Systems (EBICS), (Role: Senior Personnel)
• Mechanisms of Pseudomonas Resistance to SP-A Mediated Membrane Permeabilization, National Institutes of Health (Role: Co-PI)
• Mechansims by which human milk oligosaccharides protect against rotavirus (Role: Co-PI)
• A nanomechanical approach to understanding metastasis through cell adhesion measurement (Role: Co-PI)
• Regulation of Cancer Cell Metatasis by Mechanical Force (Role: Co-PI)
• Abbott Nutrition, Inc - Effect of Human Milk Oligosaccharides on Infectivity of Selected Respiratory Virus Pathogens (Role: PI)

• NIH-USPHS Predoctoral Fellow
• Olive V. Levin Memorial Fellow of the Leukemia Society of America
• Sigma Xi
• Who's Who in Veterinary Science and Medicine
• Morris Animal Foundation Award for Outstanding Research
• Omega Tau Sigma Veterinary Honor Fraternity (Honorary Member)
• Phi Zeta National Veterinary Honor Society, (Honorary Member)
• University of Illinois, College of Veterinary Medicine Research Award
• University of Illinois Incomplete List of Teachers Ranked Excellent by their students
• University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine Nomination for All-Round Excellence
• Engineering Open House/Agricultural Engineering, First Place Award for Original Research
• University of Illinois, College of Veterinary Medicine All-Round Excellence Award

• Liu, Y, Janjaroen, D, Kuhlenschmidt, MS, Kuhlenschmidt, TB, Nguyen, TH, Deposition of Cryptosporidium Parvum Oocysts on Natural Organic Matter Surfaces: Microscopic Evidence for Secondary Minimum Deposition in a Radial Stagnation Point Flow Cell, Langmuir 25: 1594-1605, 2009
• Pineda, MF, Chan, LL, Kuhlenschmidt, TG, Kuhlenschmidt, MS, Cunningham, BT, Rapid Label-Free Selective Detection of Porcine Rotavirus using Photonic Crystal Biosensors for Groundwater Monitoring, IEEE Sensors Journal 9:470-477, 2009
• Donovan, SM, Andres, A, Mathai, RA, Kuhlenschmidt, TB, Kuhlenschmidt, MS, Soy Formula and Isoflavones and the Developing Intestine, Nutritional Reviews, 2010
• Tang, X., T. B. Kuhlenschmidt, J. Zhou, P. Bell, F. Wang, T. A. Saif, and M. S. Kuhlenschmidt. Mechanical Force Affects Expression of an In Vitro Metastasis-Like Phenotype in HCT-8 Cells. Biophysical journal 99:2460-2469, 2010 (
• Additional Publications

• American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• American Society for Microbiology
• American Chemical Society
• Illinois State Veterinary Medical Association (Associate)