Overview

Dr Ferraris received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in Biology (Xavier
University, Philippines) and Zoology (University of Hawaii) then worked briefly for
international development agencies serving Southeast Asia. Political upheaval in his
native Philippines forced an early career shift, and he was fortunate to receive a
postdoctoral fellowship at UCLA in Professor Jared Diamond?s laboratory to
study the intestinal epithelium and identify the cell types able to perceive luminal
signals that ultimately determine site density of sugar transporters. This sparked
his lifelong interest in studying integrative regulatory processes involving nutrient
transport and metabolism. He is currently using intestinal organoids to determine
whether pure cultures of intestinal stem and of terminally differentiated absorptive
cells can perceive and respond to luminal signals

Education

PHD, 1982, University of Hawaii
M.S., 1977, University of Hawaii
B.S., 1974, Xavier University, Philippines

Relevant Publications

1. Pearce SC, Suntornsaratoon P, Kishida K, Al-Jawadi A, Guardia J, Nadler I, Flores J, Shiarella R, Auvinen M, Yu S, Gao N, Ferraris RP. Expression of SARS-CoV-2 entry factors, electrolyte, and mineral transporters in different mouse intestinal epithelial cell types. Physiol Rep. 2021 Nov;9(21):e15061. doi: 10.14814/phy2.15061. PMID: 34755492

2. Wilder-Smith C, Lee SH, Olesen SS, Low JY, Kioh DYQ, Ferraris R, Materna A, Chan ECY. Fructose intolerance is not associated with malabsorption in patients with functional gastrointestinal disorders. Neurogastroenterol Motil. 2021 Dec;33(12):e14150. doi: 10.1111/nmo.14150. Epub 2021 Apr 12. PMID: 33844393

3. Kim J, I. Balasubramanian, S. Bandyopadhyay, I Nadler, R. Singh, D. Harlan, A. Bumber, Y. He, L.J. Kerkhof, N. Gao, X. Su, R.P. Ferraris. 2021. Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG modifies the metabolome of pathobionts in gnotobiotic mice. BMC Microbiol. 21(1):165. PMID 34082713.

4. Weems EI, de la Sancha NU, Anderson LJ, Zambrana-Torrelio C, Ferraris RP. Centering microbes in the emerging role of integrative biology in understanding environmental change. Integr Comp Biol. 2021 May 3:icab047. doi: 10.1093/icb/icab047. Online ahead of print. PMID: 33940632

5. Williams EAJ, Douard V, Sugimoto K, Inui H, Devime F, Zhang X, Kishida K, Ferraris RP, Fritton JC. Bone Growth is Influenced by Fructose in Adolescent Male Mice Lacking Ketohexokinase (KHK). Calcif Tissue Int. 2020, 106(5):541-552. PMID: 31996963

6. Al-Jawadi A, Patel CR, Shiarella RJ, Romelus E, Auvinen M, Guardia J, Pearce SC, Kishida K, Yu S, Gao N, Ferraris RP. Cell-type specific, ketohexokinase-dependent induction by fructose of lipogenic gene expression in mouse small intestine. J Nutr. 2020 150(7):1722-1730. PMID: 32386219

7. Yu S, Balasubramanian I, Laubitz D, Tong K, Bandyopadhyay S, Lin X, Flores J, Singh R, Liu Y, Macazana C, Zhao Y, B??guet-Crespel F, Patil K, Midura-Kiela MT, Wang D, Yap GS, Ferraris RP, Wei Z, Bonder EM, H??ggblom MM, Zhang L, Douard V, Verzi MP, Cadwell K, Kiela PR, Gao N. Paneth Cell-Derived Lysozyme Defines the Composition of Mucolytic Microbiota and the Inflammatory Tone of the Intestine. Immunity. 2020 Aug 18;53(2):398-416.e8. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2020.07.010. PMID: 32814028

8. Ladinsky MS, Araujo LP, Zhang X, Lee C, Veltri J, Galan-Diez M, Soualhi S, Irie K, Pinker E, Narushima S, Bandyopadhyay S, Nagayama M, Elhenavy W, Coombes BK, Ferraris RP, Honda K, Iliev ID, Gao N, Bjorkman PJ, Ivanov II. Directed endocytosis mediates immune communication between an epithelial commensal microbe and the host. Science. 2019, 363(6431) PMID: 30846568.

9. Pearce S.C., A. Al-Jawadi, K. Kishida, S. Yu, M. Hu, L.F. Fritzky, K.L. Edelblum, N. Gao, R.P. Ferraris. 2018. Marked differences in tight junction composition and macromolecular permeability among different intestinal cell types. BMC Biol. 16(1):19. PMID: 29391007.

10. Ferraris RP, Choe JY, Patel CR. (2018, invited review) Intestinal absorption of fructose. Annu Rev Nutr. 38:41-67 PMID: 29751733 (review)

Areas Of Interest

- cell differentiation and junctional permeability - fructose transport and metabolism - gut microbiota metabolism of diet - nutrient signaling in the small intestine - probiotic regulation of gut epithelia - role of nutrients in regulation of epithelial cell differentiation

Course List

PHPY5005Q

Fund of Human Physiology

Systemic effects of diet, gut microbiota and host interactions

Gut microbiota, especially probiotic, effects on host transcriptome and metabolome; modulation of gut
barrier, cell differentiation and cell metabolism by microbiota and host metabolites; enteric and hepatic
oxidative stress arising from sugar metabolism and radiation damage.