Pietrantonio, Patricia Professor and Texas AgriLife Research Fellow

We work with important pests that are critical to Texas and the world focusing on public and animal health and on pests of cotton. We are interested in elucidating the functions of arthropod neuropeptides that signal through G protein-coupled receptors. Many of these neuropeptides are pleiotropic and many of their multiple functions are still unknown. We utilize loss-of-function experiments through RNAi, peptidomimetics, the discovery of antagonists through target-based high-throughput screening of small molecules on recombinant receptors expressed in mammalian cells, immunohistochemistry, and develop physiological in vitro and in vivo assays towards advancing arthropod endocrinology. The laboratory has pioneered the discovery of the first neuropeptide receptor in the Acari and the first insect prostaglandin receptor. The molecular and cell culture laboratories are BL2 and the Insect toxicology laboratory is BL1. We use state-of-the-art technologies and the lab is well equipped to do almost everything in-house.