Timothy Cover
Faculty Member
Last active: 3/3/2020

Timothy L Cover, M.D.

Official Affiliation: Medicine

Profile

Research projects in the Cover laboratory are focused on investigating molecular mechanisms by which pathogenic bacteria cause disease in humans. We are particularly interested in the bacterium Helicobacter pylori and its role as a causative agent of stomach cancer.  H. pylori is the only bacterial pathogen that commonly causes cancer in humans and has been designated as a Class I carcinogen by the World Health Organization. H. pylori colonizes the stomach in about half of the global population, and stomach cancer is the third leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide.

Examples of projects currently underway in the lab include (i) investigation of two secreted H. pylori toxins (VacA and CagA), (ii) investigation of the H. pylori type IV secretion system that delivers CagA into gastric epithelial cells, (iii) investigation of dietary composition as a determinant of gastric cancer risk, and (iv) identification of strain-specific H. pylori constituents that contribute to gastric cancer pathogenesis. 

Lab website: https://my.vanderbilt.edu/coverlab/

 

Publications

The following timeline graph is generated from all co-authored publications.

Featured publications are shown below:

  1. Bacterial Energetic Requirements for Helicobacter pylori Cag Type IV Secretion System-Dependent Alterations in Gastric Epithelial Cells. Lin AS, Dooyema SDR, Frick-Cheng AE, Harvey ML, Suarez G, Loh JT, McDonald WH, McClain MS, Peek RM, Cover TL (2020) Infect Immun 88(2)
    › Primary publication · 31712269 (PubMed) · PMC6977121 (PubMed Central)
  2. Structure of the Cag type IV secretion system. Chung JM, Sheedlo MJ, Campbell AM, Sawhney N, Frick-Cheng AE, Lacy DB, Cover TL, Ohi MD (2019) Elife
    › Primary publication · 31210639 (PubMed) · PMC6620104 (PubMed Central)
  3. Helicobacter pylori Vacuolating Toxin and Gastric Cancer. McClain MS, Beckett AC, Cover TL (2017) Toxins (Basel) 9(10)
    › Primary publication · 29023421 (PubMed) · PMC5666363 (PubMed Central)
  4. Helicobacter pylori Diversity and Gastric Cancer Risk. Cover TL (2016) mBio 7(1): e01869-15
    › Primary publication · 26814181 (PubMed) · PMC4742704 (PubMed Central)
  5. Molecular and Structural Analysis of the Helicobacter pylori cag Type IV Secretion System Core Complex. Frick-Cheng AE, Pyburn TM, Voss BJ, McDonald WH, Ohi MD, Cover TL (2016) mBio 7(1): e02001-15
    › Primary publication · 26758182 (PubMed) · PMC4725015 (PubMed Central)
  6. Human and Helicobacter pylori coevolution shapes the risk of gastric disease. Kodaman N, Pazos A, Schneider BG, Piazuelo MB, Mera R, Sobota RS, Sicinschi LA, Shaffer CL, Romero-Gallo J, de Sablet T, Harder RH, Bravo LE, Peek RM, Wilson KT, Cover TL, Williams SM, Correa P (2014) Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 111(4): 1455-60
    › Primary publication · 24474772 (PubMed) · PMC3910595 (PubMed Central)

Featured Affiliation

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Contact Information

Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Division of Infectious Diseases A2200 Medical Center North
Nashville, TN 37232
U.S.
615-343-8753 (p)
Email

Keywords & MeSH Terms

MeSH terms are retrieved from PubMed records. Learn more.

Key: MeSH Term Keyword

Amidohydrolases Antigenic Variation Bacteria Bacteria-host interactions Bacterial protein toxins Bacterial virulence determinants Cancer CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes Cell Cycle Chaperonin 60 Child Connexin 43 Cricetulus Cyclins DNA, Bacterial Evasion of host defenses Gastric cancer Gastric Mucosa Genomics Genomics H(+)-K(+)-Exchanging ATPase Helicobacter pylori Hydrogen Immunoglobulin G Immunoglobulin Variable Region Immunology Infectious disease Kinetics Lactic Acid Luminescent Proteins Microbiology Microscopy, Electron, Scanning Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1 Molecular Epidemiology Mucous Membrane Natural Killer T-Cells Neutral Red Nucleic Acid Hybridization Pathogenesis of bacterial infections Peptidomimetics Protein Domains Protein structure Quinazolines src-Family Kinases Yersinia Infections