Michael Fasullo

State University of New York Polytechnic Institute

Michael Fasullo, Ph.D., is an associate professor at SUNY Polytechnic University, New York. He earned a BSc at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. at the Department of Biochemistry, Stanford University, California. He was an American Cancer Society fellow at Columbia University, New York, and held faculty positions at Loyola University Chicago and Albany Medical College, New York. He has authored more than forty peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and review articles in the field of yeast genetics, DNA recombination and repair, oncolytic viruses, and toxicology. His present work focuses on profiling the yeast and mammalian genome for resistance to P450-activated mycotoxins and heterocyclic amines. His research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, March of Dimes, and Leukemia Research Foundation.

1books edited

2chapters authored

Latest work with IntechOpen by Michael Fasullo

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and DNA double-strand breaks can result from mitochondrial defects and external sources, such as ionizing radiation. If not repaired properly, pathogenic mutations are generated. Human diseases resulting from inherited mitochondrial defects manifest in organs that physiologically require a high level of ATP synthesis. These diseases are clinically challenging, but new experimental clinical therapies include gene editing and mitochondrial transplants. Pathogenic ROS-associated cellular damage includes DNA double-strand breaks, and mouse models are now available to study multiple repair pathways. This book discusses the clinical manifestations of mitochondrial diseases in both the eye and the kidney, and presents new insights into double-strand break repair pathways and developmental phenotypes of g-ray-associated ontogenic mutations of Drosophila melanogaste.

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Mutagenesis and Mitochondrial-Associated Pathologies

Edited by Michael Fasullo

Chapters authored

Genotoxic Assays for Measuring P450 Activation of Chemical Mutagens

By Michael Fasullo

This review discusses using yeast as a model organism for studying the biological effects of P450-mediated metabolism of xenobiotics. We discuss the challenges of testing the safety of thousands of chemicals currently introduced into the market place, the limitations of the animal systems, the advantages of model organisms, and the humanization of the yeast cells by expressing human cytochrome P450 (CYP) genes. We discuss strategies in utilizing multiple genetic endpoints in screening chemicals and yeast strains that facilitate phenotyping CYP polymorphisms. In particular, we discuss yeast mutants that facilitate xenobiotic import and retention and particular DNA repair mutants that can facilitate in measuring genotoxic endpoints and elucidating genotoxic mechanisms. New directions in toxicogenetics suggest that particular DNA damaging agents may interact with chromatin and perturb gene silencing, which may also generate genetic instabilities. By introducing human CYP genes into yeast strains, new strategies can be explored for high-throughput testing of xenobiotics and identifying potent DNA damaging agents.

Part of the book: Genotoxicity and Mutagenicity

Checkpoint Control of DNA Repair in Yeast

By Michael Fasullo

Budding yeast has been a model organism for understanding how DNA damage is repaired and how cells minimize genetic instability caused by arresting or delaying the cell cycle at well-defined checkpoints. However, many DNA damage insults are tolerated by mechanisms that can both be error-prone and error-free. The mechanisms that tolerate DNA damage and promote cell division are less well-understood. This review summarizes current information known about the checkpoint response to agents that elicit both the G2/M checkpoint and the intra-S phase checkpoint and how cells adapt to unrepaired DNA damage. Tolerance to particular bulky DNA adducts and radiomimetic agents are discussed, as well as possible mechanisms that may control phosphatases that deactivate phosphorylated proteins.

Part of the book: Saccharomyces

Michael Fasullo

Latest work with IntechOpen by Michael Fasullo

Mutagenesis and Mitochondrial-Associated Pathologies

Chapters authored

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