Medical Director, Lung Transplant and Heart-Lung Transplant Programs

Department / Division:
Medicine / Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine

Address:
DUMC Box 102354
Durham, NC 27710

Office Telephone:
919-684-2728

Fax Telephone:
919-684-3067

• MD, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine (Illinois), 1998

• Internal Medicine, Johns Hopkins Hospital (Maryland), 1998-2001

• Pulmonary and Critical Care, Duke University Medical Center, 2001-2005

Clinical Interests:
Lung transplantation

Research Interests:
Dr. Zaas studies the role of lipid rafts in the pathogenesis of Pseudomonas pneumonia and specifically the host pathogen interactions between Pseudomonas and lung epithelial cells.  Lipid rafts and caveolae are specialized lipid rich domains on the plasma membrane that play a role in cell signaling and endocytosis.  Caveolin proteins are membrane bound proteins that are localized to these lipid rich regions and have recently been implicated in a range of cellular functions.  In collaboration with Dr. Soman Abraham and Dr. Jo Rae Wright, Dr. Zaas has discovered that Pseudomonas is capable of invading alveolar epithelial cells by co-opting lipid raft mediated endocytosis. In addition, the uptake of Pseudomonas appears to be dependent on the expression and phosphorylation of caveolin-2.  

Representative Publications:
Zaas DW, Duncan MJ, Li G, Wright JR, Abraham SN. Pseudomonas invasion of type I pneumocytes is dependent on the expression and phosphorylation of caveolin-2. J Biol Chem. 2005 Feb 11;280(6):4864-72. (2005) Abstract

Zaas DW, Duncan M, Rae Wright J, Abraham SN. The role of lipid rafts in the pathogenesis of bacterial infections. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2005 Dec 30;1746(3):305-13. (2005) Abstract

Abraham SN, Duncan MJ, Li G, Zaas D. Bacterial penetration of the mucosal barrier by targeting lipid rafts. J Investig Med. 2005 Sep;53(6):318-21. (2005) Abstract

Zaas D, Palmer SM. Respiratory failure early after lung transplantation: now that we know the extent of the problem, what are the solutions? Chest. 2003 Jan;123(1):14-6. (2003) Abstract