Research Area(s)
- Development of novel vaccines for swine diseases
Academic Credentials
- MSc in biochemistry and DVM, Moscow Veterinary Academy, Russia.
- PhD in molecular biology, National Research Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology, Moscow, Russia.
Alexander Zakhartchouk is an adjunct professor in the Department of Veterinary Microbiology at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM), University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Dr. Zakhartchouk participated in the teaching of the Viral Pathogenesis course offered by the University of Saskatchewan for graduate students. He has supervised 4 PDFs, 6 technicians and a graduate student.
Research Interests
Dr. Zakhartchouk has been involved in molecular characterization of non-human adenoviruses (porcine adenovirus-3 and bovine adenovirus-3), with the aim to develop them as live vaccine vectors for animals and humans. He demonstrated that mucosal immunization of calves with recombinant bovine adenovirus-3 induced protective immunity to bovine herpesvirus-1. Also, he developed a recombinant E1-deleted porcine adenovirus-3 as an expression vector and worked on a new vaccine against measles. After the SARS epidemic occurred, Dr. Zakhartchouk became involved in developing a vaccine against SARS.
Current research interests of Dr. Zakhartchouk include development of novel vaccines for porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) and porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV). In addition, he is interested in the characterization of virus-host cells interactions.
Publications
Hansra S., Pujhari S, Zakhartchouk, A.N. Exploration of new sites in adenovirus hexon for foreign peptides insertion. The Open Virology Journal 9: 1-6, 2015.
Pujhari S., Kryworuchko M., Zakhartchouk, A.N. Role of phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) and the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signalling pathways in porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) replication. Virus Res 194:138-144, 2014.
Pujhari S., Baig T.T., Zakhartchouk, A.N. Potential role of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus structural protein GP2 in apoptosis inhibition. BioMed Research International Volume 2014, Article ID 160505, 7 pages, 2014.
Pujhari S., Baig T.T., Hansra S., Zakhartchouk, A.N. Development of a DNA-launched replicon as a vaccine for porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus. Virus Res 173: 321-326, 2013.
Zakhartchouk A.N. and Mutwiri G.K. Toward a new vaccine against measles. In “Molecular Vaccines From Prophylaxis to Therapy”. Vol. 1. Ed: Giese, M. Springer, Vienna, 2013.
Lobanova LM, Eng NF, Satkunarajah M, Mutwiri GK, Rini JM, Zakhartchouk, AN. The recombinant globular head domain of the measles virus hemagglutinin protein as a subunit vaccine against measles. Vaccine 30: 3061-3067, 2012.
Baig TT, Zakhartchouk, A. New insights into RNA packaging in porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus. J Gen Virol. 92: 2865-2870, 2011
Lobanova LM, Baig TT, Tikoo SK, Zakhartchouk, AN. Mucosal adenovirus-vectored vaccine for measles. Vaccine 28: 7613-7619, 2010.
Vasilenko N, Moshynskyy I, Zakhartchouk, A. SARS coronavirus protein 7a interacts with human Ap4A-hydrolase. Virology J. 7:31, 2010.