My laboratory group is interested in the inflammatory response in immune cells called macrophages. The inflammatory responses stimulated by macrophages are important to resolve infections but also result in many chronic conditions such as Rheumatoid Arthritis and Crohn's Disease. Our research objectives are two-fold: to characterize the interaction of human macrophages with microbes and to find new therapies that will regulate the inflammatory response.

I am a member of a group of researchers at MTSU that comprise the Tennessee Center for Botanical Medicine. We are located in the departments of Biology, Chemistry and Agriscience. Our faculty work together to isolate and characterize novel botanicals and modify existing natural compounds that have anti-cancer, anti-viral, anti-parasitic, as well as anti-inflammatory activity.

Grants

• NIH R15, co-PI, (2019) Trafficking of Two Novel Potential Pathogenic Intranuclear Bacteria in Eukaryotic Cells ($357,000)
  NSF Innovation-Corps Grant, Biopanel, (2016-2017) co-PIs: Brock Arivett and Elliot Altman ($50,000)
• NSF I-Corps Grant, Salomon's House, (2015-2016) co-PIs Matt Wright and Elliot Altman ($50,000)
• MTSU Clean Energy Grant. 2011-2017. Co-PI. Bioremediation of Barbital Compounds for Eco-Friendly Composting ($32,000). Co-PIs: M. Farone (Biology) and P. Kline (Chemistry).
• NSF GK-12 Grant International Supplement. 2013-2016. PI. TRIAD: Reforming Graduate Education through Teaching, Research, and Industry Applications to Deepen Scientific Understanding. Co-PIs: M. Farone (MTSU Biology), K. Sadler with Universidad de Chile, Santiago and University of Puerto Rico ($75,000).
• NSF GK-12 Grant. 2009-2016. PI. TRIAD: Reforming Graduate Education through Teaching, Research, and Industry Applications to Deepen Scientific Understanding ($3,000,000). Co-PIs: M. Farone (MTSU Biology), K. Sadler (MTSU Biology Education) and E. Myles (TSU Biology).

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• Anderson B, Bryant DL, Gozem S, Brambley C, Handy ST, Farone A, Miller JM. Solvent-Dependent Emissions Properties of a Model Aurone Enable Use in Biological Applications. J Fluoresc. 2024 Feb 27. doi: 10.1007/s10895-024-03607-x. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38411859.                                                                                                                                                                                   
• Bryant DL, Kafle A, Handy ST, Farone AL, Miller JM. Aurone-derived 1,2,3-triazoles as potential fluorescence molecules in vitro. RSC Adv. 2022 Aug 12;12(35):22639-22649. doi: 10.1039/d2ra02578g. PMID: 36105995; PMCID: PMC9372874.

• Ghosh R, Bryant DL, Farone AL. Panax quinquefolius (North American Ginseng) Polysaccharides as Immunomodulators: Current Research Status and Future Directions. Molecules. 2020 Dec 11;25(24):5854. doi: 10.3390/molecules25245854. PMID: 33322293; PMCID: PMC7763949.\

• Ghosh R, Bryant DL, Arivett BA, Smith SA, Altman E, Kline PC, Farone AL. An acidic polysaccharide (AGC3) isolated from North American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) suspension culture as a potential immunomodulatory nutraceutical. Curr Res Food Sci. 2020 Aug 5;3:207-216. doi: 10.1016/j.crfs.2020.07.002. PMID: 32914137; PMCID: PMC7473373.

• Chamberlain NB, Mehari YT, Hayes BJ, Roden CM, Kidane DT, Swehla AJ, Lorenzana-DeWitt MA, Farone AL, Gunderson JH, Berk SG, Farone MB. Infection and nuclear interaction in mammalian cells by 'Candidatus Berkiella cookevillensis', a novel bacterium isolated from amoebae. BMC Microbiol. 2019 May 9;19(1):91. doi: 10.1186/s12866-019-1457-z. PMID: 31072343; PMCID: PMC6507137.         
• Hosain, N. A., Ghosh, R., Bryant, D. L., Arivett, B. A., Farone, A. L., & Kline, P. C. (2019). Isolation, structure elucidation, and immunostimulatory activity of polysaccharide fractions from Boswellia carterii frankincense resin. International journal of biological macromolecules, 133, 76-85.                                                                                                                                                        
• Park HS, Taylor ZE, Hayes JB, Wolf LC, Taylor KM, Handy S, Nelson DE, Farone MB, Farone AL. Suppression of LPS-induced NF-κB activity in macrophages by the synthetic aurone, (Z)-2-((5-(hydroxymethyl)furan-2-yl)methylene)benzofuran-3(2H)-one. Int J Immunopharmacol 2017. 43; 116-128.

• Mehari YT, Arivett BA, Farone AL, Gunderson JH, Farone MB. 2016. Draft genome sequences of two novel amoeba-resistant intranuclear bacteria, “Candidatus Berkiella cookevillensis” and “Candidatus Berkiella aquae.” Genome Announc 4: pii: e01732-15. doi: 10.1128/genomeA.01732-15. PubMed PMID: 26893424; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4759071.

• Mehari YT, Hayes BJ, Redding, KS*, Mariappan PV, Gunderson JH, Farone AL, Farone MB. 2016. Description of “Candidatus Berkiella aquae”and “Candidatus Berkiella cookevillensis,” two intranuclear bacteria of freshwater amoebae. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol. 66:536-541. doi: 10.1099/ijsem.0.0007500.1099/ijsem.0.000750.                                                                                                             
• Park, H, Vick, E, Gao, Y, He, C, Almosnid, N, Farone, M, Farone, A. 2016. Cis and trans-gnetin H isolated from Paeonia suffruticosa exerts anti-inflammatory effects in human THP-1 cells. Submission to J Ethnopharmacology. 189:202–9. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2016.05.042
• Eric J. Vick, Hyo S. Park, Krista A. Huff, Kenneth M. Brooks, Anthony L. Farone, Mary B. Farone. 2014. Gardnerella vaginalis triggers NLRP3 inflammasome recruitment in THP-1 monocytes. J Reproductive Immunol. 106:67-75.
• Pellizzaro, A., Farone, A. Farone, M., Mushi, R. Aguinaga, M., and D. Erenso.2012. Direct laser trapping for measuring the behavior of transfused erythrocytes in a sickle cell anemia patient. Biomed Optics Express. 3:2190-2199.
• Jackson, J., Farone, A., and M. Farone. 2011. Bacterial enteropathogens associated with diarrhea in a rural population of Haiti [ID 23426]. Res Rep Trop Med. 2:129-133.
• Farone, A., Farone, M., Kline, P., and Z. Sinkala. 2010. A practical approach for computing the active site of the ribonucleoside hydrolase of E.coli encoded by rihC. Adv Exp Med Biol. 680:437-443.
• Farone, A., Farone, M., Khaliq, A., Kline, P., Quinn, T., and Z. Sinkala, 2009. Identifying the active site of ribonucleoside hydrolase of E. coli encoded by RihC. Proceedings of the 2009 International Conference on Bioinformatics & Computational Biology: BIOCOMP2009 Vol. I, Editors: H.R. Arabnia and M. Q. Yang, CSREA Press, USA, pp 216-218.
• Ward, R.L., McNeal, M.M., Farone, M.B., and A.L. Farone. 2007. "The Reoviridae" In: The Mouse in Biomedical Research. (A. Smith, ed.) 2nd Edition. Elsevier Scientific Publishing, Inc., New York. pp. 235-268.
• Berk, S.G., Gunderson, J.H., Newsome A.L., Farone, A.L., Skolasinski, W.S., Hayes, B.J., Redding, K.S., Uddin, N., William, E.L., Reid, A., Ventrice, J.A., Skimmyhorn, J. and Farone, M. B. 2006. Occurrence of infected amoebae in cooling towers environments compared with natural aquatic environments: implications for emerging diseases. Environ. Sci. Technology 40:7440-7444.
• Farone, A. L., O'Donnell, S.M., Brooks, C. S., Young, K. M., Pierce, J., Wetzel, D., Dermody, T. S. and Farone, M. B. 2006. Reovirus serotype-dependent inflammatory cytokine repsonses and replication patterns in a human monocyte cell line. Viral Immunol. 19:546-557
• Farone, A. L., Farone, M. B., McNeal, M., Ward, R. Reoviridae and Epizootic Diarrhea of Infant Mice. 2006. In: The Mouse in Biomedical Research, 2nd Edition, J.G. Fox, C. Newcomer, A. Smith, S. Barthold, F. Quimby, M. Davisson, Eds. Academic Press, NY.
• Hunt, C., Gillani, N., Farone, A., Rezaei, M. Kline, P. 2005. Kinetic isotope effects of nucleoside hydrolase from Escherichia coli. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1751, 140-149.
• Farone, M., and Farone, A. 2005. Detecting mold spores in school buildings: An exercise in biodiversity. Am. Biol. Teach. 67: 401-410.

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