Shajila Siricilla, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

shajila.siricilla@vanderbilt.edu
Faculty Appointments
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Education
Ph.D., Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Tennessee Center for Health Science, Memphis, Tennessee
Office Address
2215B Garland Ave. 1135C Light Hall
Nashville, TN 37232
Research Description
Research in Dr. Siricilla`s laboratory is focused on identifying novel therapeutic agents to manage infection-induced preterm birth and protecting the fetus against in-utero inflammation. The approaches include a large-scale screening of a customized library of molecules targeting the druggable transcriptome associated with infection-induced inflammation leading to preterm birth. The studies utilize pharmacological and immunological assays and our laboratory is equipped for high-throughput screening of molecules using an ex vivo fetal membrane explant-based assay, high-throughput combination synergy screening assay and pre-clinical in vivo testing in mouse models of preterm labor. Our laboratory uses human fetal membrane samples and mouse models of preterm labor.

While a postdoctoral fellow in the Herington Lab, Dr. Siricilla worked on projects entailing a phenotypic high-throughput screen of large compound libraries to identify novel small molecules and molecular targets that regulate uterine myometrial contractions with high selectivity. She has developed a combination high-throughput assay to identify synergistic drug combinations to improve their tocolytic efficacy and therapeutic index. She has identified a natural product, mundulone, and FDA-approved drugs with tocolytic efficacy in mono- and combination therapy with current tocolytics. Dr. Siricilla's doctoral work focused on the discovery of novel antibacterial molecules with molecular targets against problematic pathogens such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis and multidrug-resistant nosocomial pathogens.
Research Keywords
Drug discovery, Pregnancy, Women's health, Fetal inflammation, High-throughput screening
Clinical Research Keywords
Preterm birth, Preterm labor, Chorioamnionitis
Publications
Siricilla S, Hansen CJ, Rogers JH, De D, Simpson CL, Waterson AG, Sulikowski GA, Crockett SL, Boatwright N, Reese J, Paria BC, Newton J, Herington JL. Arrest of mouse preterm labor until term delivery by combination therapy with atosiban and mundulone, a natural product with tocolytic efficacy. Pharmacol Res [print-electronic]. 2023 Sep; 195: 106876. PMID: 37536638, PMCID: PMC10712649, PII: S1043-6618(23)00232-3, DOI: 10.1016/j.phrs.2023.106876, ISSN: 1096-1186.

Hansen CJ, Siricilla S, Boatwright N, Rogers JH, Kumi ME, Herington J. Effects of Solvents, Emulsions, Cosolvents, and Complexions on Ex Vivo Mouse Myometrial Contractility. Reprod Sci [print-electronic]. 2022 Feb; 29(2): 586-95. PMID: 33852137, PMCID: PMC8782813, PII: 10.1007/s43032-021-00576-5, DOI: 10.1007/s43032-021-00576-5, ISSN: 1933-7205.

Siricilla S, Iwueke CC, Herington JL. Drug discovery strategies for the identification of novel regulators of uterine contractility. Curr Opin Physiol [print-electronic]. 2020 Feb; 13: 71-86. PMID: 32864532, PMCID: PMC7451233, DOI: 10.1016/j.cophys.2019.10.012, ISSN: 2468-8673.

Siricilla S, Knapp KM, Rogers JH, Berger C, Shelton EL, Mi D, Vinson P, Condon J, Paria BC, Reese J, Sheng Q, Herington JL. Comparative analysis of myometrial and vascular smooth muscle cells to determine optimal cells for use in drug discovery. Pharmacol Res [print-electronic]. 2019 Aug; 146: 104268. PMID: 31078743, PMCID: PMC6889064, PII: S1043-6618(19)30245-2, DOI: 10.1016/j.phrs.2019.104268, ISSN: 1096-1186.

Lemieux MR, Siricilla S, Mitachi K, Eslamimehr S, Wang Y, Yang D, Pressly JD, Kong Y, Park F, Franzblau SG, Kurosu M. An antimycobacterial pleuromutilin analogue effective against dormant bacilli. Bioorg Med Chem [print-electronic]. 2018 Sep 9/15/2018; 26(17): 4787-96. PMID: 30145051, PMCID: PMC6154393, PII: S0968-0896(18)30963-5, DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2018.07.034, ISSN: 1464-3391.

Siricilla S, Mitachi K, Yang J, Eslamimehr S, Lemieux MR, Meibohm B, Ji Y, Kurosu M. A New Combination of a Pleuromutilin Derivative and Doxycycline for Treatment of Multidrug-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii. J Med Chem [print-electronic]. 2017 Apr 4/13/2017; 60(7): 2869-78. PMID: 28291943, PMCID: PMC5469366, DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.6b01805, ISSN: 1520-4804.

Siricilla S, Mitachi K, Yang D, Kong Y, Skorupinska-Tudek K, Swiezewska E, Franzblau SG, Kurosu M. Fluorescence-based assay for polyprenyl phosphate-GlcNAc-1-phosphate transferase (WecA) and identification of novel antimycobacterial WecA inhibitors. Anal Biochem. 2016 Nov 11/1/2016; 512: 78-90. PMID: 27530653, PMCID: PMC5012913, DOI: 10.1016/j.ab.2016.08.008.

Mitachi K, Aleiwi BA, Schneider CM, Siricilla S, Kurosu M. Stereocontrolled Total Synthesis of Muraymycin D1 Having a Dual Mode of Action against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. J Am Chem Soc. 2016 Oct 10/5/2016; 138(39): 12975-80. PMID: 27617631, PMCID: PMC5053896, DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6b07395.

Mitachi K, Siricilla S, Klaic L, Clemons WM, Kurosu M. Chemoenzymatic syntheses of water-soluble lipid I fluorescent probes. Tetrahedron Lett. 2015 Jun 6/3/2015; 56(23): 3441-6. PMID: 26190869, PMCID: PMC4505380, DOI: 10.1016/j.tetlet.2015.01.044, ISSN: 0040-4039.

Siricilla S, Mitachi K, Wan B, Franzblau SG, Kurosu M. Discovery of a capuramycin analog that kills nonreplicating Mycobacterium tuberculosis and its synergistic effects with translocase I inhibitors. J Antibiot (Tokyo) [print-electronic]. 2015 Apr; 68(4): 271-8. PMID: 25269459, PMCID: PMC4382465, PII: ja2014133, DOI: 10.1038/ja.2014.133, ISSN: 1881-1469.

Siricilla S, Mitachi K, Skorupinska-Tudek K, Swiezewska E, Kurosu M. Biosynthesis of a water-soluble lipid I analogue and a convenient assay for translocase I. Anal Biochem. 2014 Sep 9/15/2014; 461: 36-45. PMID: 24939461, PMCID: PMC4296562, DOI: 10.1016/j.ab.2014.05.018.

Mitachi K, Mohan P, Siricilla S, Kurosu M. One-pot protection-glycosylation reactions for synthesis of lipid II analogues. Chemistry [print-electronic]. 2014 Apr 4/14/2014; 20(16): 4554-8. PMID: 24623584, PMCID: PMC4030666, DOI: 10.1002/chem.201400307, ISSN: 1521-3765.

Wang Y, Siricilla S, Aleiwi BA, Kurosu M. Improved Synthesis of Capuramycin and Its Analogues. Chemistry. 2013 Sep 9/6/2013; 19(41): 13847-58. PMID: 24014478, PMCID: PMC3929971, DOI: 10.1002/chem.201302389.

Kurosu M, Siricilla S, Mitachi K. Advances in MRSA drug discovery: where are we and where do we need to be?. Expert Opin Drug Discov [print-electronic]. 2013 Sep; 8(9): 1095-116. PMID: 23829425, PMCID: PMC3750092, DOI: 10.1517/17460441.2013.807246, ISSN: 1746-045X.

Debnath J, Siricilla S, Wan B, Crick DC, Lenaerts AJ, Franzblau SG, Kurosu M. Discovery of selective menaquinone biosynthesis inhibitors against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. J Med Chem [print-electronic]. 2012 Apr 4/26/2012; 55(8): 3739-55. PMID: 22449052, PMCID: PMC3375340, DOI: 10.1021/jm201608g, ISSN: 1520-4804.

Available Postdoctoral Position Details
Posted: 8/27/2024

A new postdoctoral position is available immediately in the laboratory of Dr. Shajila Siricilla at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

The Siricilla laboratory is focused on identifying novel therapeutic agents to manage infection-induced preterm birth and protecting the fetus against in-utero inflammation. The approaches include a large-scale screening of a customized library of molecules targeting the druggable transcriptome associated with infection-induced inflammation leading to preterm birth. The studies utilize pharmacological and immunological assays, and our laboratory is equipped for high-throughput screening of molecules using an ex vivo fetal membrane explant-based assay, high-throughput combination synergy screening assay and pre-clinical in vivo testing in mouse models of preterm labor. Our laboratory uses human fetal membrane samples and mouse models of preterm labor.

Candidates should have a recent Ph.D. degree with a strong background in pharmacology or immunology and a strong publication record. Individuals with experience in high-throughput screening, in vivo pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, infectious diseases or reproductive biology will be given preference. We value self-motivated, enthusiastic and collaborative team members. Interested individuals should submit a single pdf including: cover letter containing a summary of their prior work and a short paragraph of research interests along with a CV with information for 3 references to shajila.siricilla@vumc.org.