Erica Washington is all about figuring out how pathogens harm people. As a structural biologist, she looks at the molecular makeup of proteins to figure out how they do what they do in cells.
A research program looking into how fungi can hurt people got her interested in fungi. Last year she attended a conference where she heard fungal research star Joan Bennett of Rutgers University speak about how volatile organic compounds – VOCs – in mold affect human health. Washington, assistant research professor of molecular genetics and microbiology at the School of Medicine, recalls that Bennett was nearing the end of her career.
“She said, ‘Can somebody pick up this work?’ Somebody in this huge audience.” Washington met her for lunch and explained how interested she was. The VOCs connect with receptors on the cell surface (see story on the work of Bob Lefkowitz, page 34). “I got really excited,” Washington says. “I was like, I need to understand how these VOCs are involved in fungal responses in humans.” Was that how they made people sick? Could she modify that interaction therapeutically?
As she returned from the conference, Hurricane Helene hit western North Carolina, which was thus suddenly full of “homes that have been damaged by floods that are filled with fungi and mold, and the mold are emitting these VOCs that are making people sick, so I just felt it was almost kismet. We’ve got to figure out what’s going on.”
So Washington connected with Asiya Gusa, assistant professor of molecular genetics and microbiology, and Andrew Jones, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, to brainstorm. They agreed there was a unique opportunity. “There’s all this destruction,” Washington said. “Let’s put a team together and go collect fungi, and bring it back to Duke, identify whatever fungal species we can find, and then start to study them.”
The devastation, even months after the flood, was upsetting. Ruined drywall, piles of trash, all covered with fungi. Washington recalls one wooden building had “a rainbow of colors of fungi in there. So we went in with our aspirators and our little Q-tips and did as much collection as we could. It was emotionally and physically exhausting, and that’s just the beginning of the work.”
Since then they have been growing plates of “amazingly weird shapes and colors of mold and fungi,” she says, which they’re categorizing. Next come questions. “What are these fungi doing? Can they make people sick? Can they survive at human body temperature? Are they emitting VOCs? Does the building material affect when fungi grows and whether they can make people sick? I’m interested in drugs – I’m developing drugs in my lab. Do these work on these fungi? Can we solve structures of proteins from these fungi to figure out how to develop other drugs?”
They’ve classified much of what they’ve seen, and they are trying to figure out what might affect fungal growth and communication, what might help prevent harm to humans. “That might be five to 10 years,” she admits. “Every day it’s, ‘Oh, I figured this out.’ OK, so what’s the next question? And then you keep going.
“We just have so much to do.”