Contact Information:
Research Interests:
I completed my PhD in the summer of 2019 at the University of Georgia under the direction of Fikri Avci. In the Avci lab I studied pneumococcal surface glycans and how these glycans contribute to virulence of, and immune responses to Streptococcus pneumoniae. I joined the Valdivia lab in August of 2019. Here, I will characterize polysaccharide capsules of Akkermansia Muciniphila and determine their influence on gastrointestinal physiology.
Personal Interests:
Outside of the lab, I love spending time with my wife, Caitlin, and our two daughters, Ellie and Emma. They keep me on my toes. I enjoy biking, running, watching college football, and dancing with the girls to our favorite records.
Publication List:
- Suihong Cheng, Paeton L. Wantuch, Megan E. Kizer, Dustin R. Middleton, Ruitong Wang, Mikaela DibBello, Mingli Li, Xing Wang, Xuebing Li, Vashanthi Ramachandiran, Fikri Y. Avci, Fuming Zhang, Xing Zhang, Robert J. Linhardt. Glycoconjugate synthesis using chemoselective ligation. Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry 17(10), 2646-2650 (2019)
- Amy V. Paschall, Dustin R. Middleton, Fikri Y. Avci. Opsonophagocytic Killing Assay to Assess Immunological Responses Against Bacterial Pathogens. Journal of Visualized Experiments 146 (2019)
- Lina Sun, Mayumi Ishihara, Dustin R. Middleton, Michael Tiemeyer, and Fikri Y. Avci. Metabolic labeling of HIV-1 envelope protein gp120 reveals significance of glycosylation during host interaction. Journal of Biological Chemistry 293, 15178-15194 (2018)
- Dustin R. Middleton, Amy V. Paschall, Jeremy A. Duke, and Fikri Y. Avci. Enzymatic hydrolysis of pneumococcal capsular polysaccharide renders the bacterium vulnerable to host defense. Infection and Immunity 86, 1-12 (2018)
- Dustin R. Middleton, Xing Zhang, Paeton L. Wantuch , Ahmet Ozdilek, Xinyue Liu, Rachel Lopilato, Nikhil Gangasani, Robert Bridger, Lance Wells, Robert J. Linhardt, and Fikri Y. Avci. Identification and characterization of the Streptococcus pneumoniae type 3 capsule-specific glycosyl hydrolase of Paenibacillus sp. Glycobiology 28, 90-99 (2018)
- Dustin R. Middleton, Lina Sun, Amy V. Paschall, and Fikri Y. Avci. T cell-mediated humoral immune responses to type 3 capsular polysaccharide of Streptococcus pneumoniae. Journal of Immunology. 199, 598-603 (2017)
- Dustin R. Middleton, Walt Lorenz, and Fikri Y. Avci. Complete genome sequence of Bacillus circulans Jordan Strain 32352. Genome announcements. 5 (19), (2017)
- Osman Sheikh, Stephanie M. Halmo, Sneha Patel, Dustin R. Middleton, Hideyuki Takeuchi, Christopher M. Schafer, Christopher M. West, Robert S. Haltiwager, Fikri Y. Avci, Kelley W. Moremen, and Lance Wells. Rapid screening of sugar-nucleotide donor specificities of putative glycosyltransferases. Glycobiology. 27 (3), 206-212 (2017
- Lina Sun, Dustin R. Middleton, Paeton Wantuch, Ahmet Ozdilek, Fikri Y. Avci. Carbohydrates as T cell Antigens with Implications to Health and Disease. Glycobiology 26 (10), 1029-1040 (2016).
- Guoyun Li, Lingyun Li, Changhu Xue, Dustin R. Middleton, Robert J. Linhardt, and Fikri Y. Avci.Profiling pneumococcal type 3-derived oligosaccharides by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Journal of Chromatography A 1397, 43-51 (2015)