Brian Giunta, MD, PhD

Director, Neuroimmunology Laboratory, Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences

Contact Info 3515 E. Fletcher Ave.
MDT 14
Tampa FL 33613

Academic Email: bgiunta@usf.edu

Academic Phone:8139740616

Education

Interdisciplinary and Emerging Signature Programs

• Allergy, Immunology & Infectious Disease
• Neuroscience

Memberships

• Member (Gold Humanism in Medicine Honor Society- Bahrnes/Benhke Chapter, 2011 - Present)
• Member (American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET), 2011 - Present)
• Regular Member (Society for Neuroimmune Pharmacology, 2010 - Present)
• Regular Member (Society for Neuroscience, 2008 - Present)

Recent Publications

• Hou H, Habib A, Zi D, Tian K, Tian J, Giunta B, Sawmiller D, Tan J. Low-Density Lipoprotein Receptor-Related Protein-1 (LRP1) C4408R Mutant Promotes Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP) α-Cleavage in Vitro. Neuromolecular medicine. , 2017.
• Habib A, Sawmiller D, Li S, Xiang Y, Rongo D, Tian J, Hou H, Zeng J, Smith A, Fan S, Giunta B, Mori T, Currier G, Shytle DR, Tan J. LISPRO mitigates β-amyloid and associated pathologies in Alzheimer''s mice. Cell death & disease. 8(6) : e2880, 2017.
• Jin J, Grimmig B, Izzo J, Brown LAM, Hudson C, Smith AJ, Tan J, Bickford PC, Giunta B. HIV Non-Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitor Efavirenz Reduces Neural Stem Cell Proliferation in Vitro and in Vivo. Cell transplantation. 25(11) : 1967-1977, 2016.
• Yao XQ, Jiao SS, Saadipour K, Zeng F, Wang QH, Zhu C, Shen LL, Zeng GH, Liang CR, Wang J, Liu YH, Hou HY, Xu X, Su YP, Fan XT, Xiao HL, Lue LF, Zeng YQ, Giunta B, Zhong JH, Walker DG, Zhou HD, Tan J, Zhou XF, Wang YJ. p75NTR ectodomain is a physiological neuroprotective molecule against amyloid-beta toxicity in the brain of Alzheimer''s disease. Molecular Psychiatry. 20(11) : 1301-10, 2015.
• Deng J, Habib A, Obregon DF, Barger SW, Giunta B, Wang YJ, Hou H, Sawmiller D, Tan J. Soluble amyloid precursor protein alpha inhibits tau phosphorylation through modulation of GSK3β signaling pathway. Journal of Neurochemistry. 135(3) : 630-7, 2015.
• Darlington D, Li S, Hou H, Habib A, Tian J, Gao Y, Ehrhart J, Sanberg PR, Sawmiller D, Giunta B, Mori T, Tan J. Human umbilical cord blood-derived monocytes improve cognitive deficits and reduce amyloid-β pathology in PSAPP mice. Cell Transplantation. 24(11) : 2237-50, 2015.
• Xiang Y, Bu XL, Liu YH, Zhu C, Shen LL, Jiao SS, Zhu XY, Giunta B, Tan J, Song WH, Zhou HD, Zhou XF, Wang YJ. Physiological amyloid-beta clearance in the periphery and its therapeutic potential for Alzheimer''s disease. Acta Neuropathologica. 130(4) : 487-99, 2015.
• Li S, Hou H, Mori T, Sawmiller D, Smith A, Tian J, Wang Y, Giunta B, Sanberg PR, Zhang S, Tan J. Swedish mutant APP-based BACE1 binding site peptide reduces APP β-cleavage and cerebral Aβ levels in Alzheimer''s mice. Scientific Reports. 5: 11322, 2015.
• Kim SH, Smith AJ, Tan J, Shytle RD, Giunta B. MSM ameliorates HIV-1 Tat induced neuronal oxidative stress via rebalance of the glutathione cycle. American Journal of Translational Research. 7(2) : 328-38, 2015.
• Ferrell D, Giunta B. The impact of HIV-1 on neurogenesis: implications for HAND. Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS. 71(22) : 4387-92, 2014.
• Liu YH, Xiang Y, Wang YR, Jiao SS, Wang QH, Bu XL, Zhu C, Yao XQ, Giunta B, Tan J, Zhou HD, Wang YJ. Association Between Serum Amyloid-Beta and Renal Functions: Implications for Roles of Kidney in Amyloid-Beta Clearance. Molecular neurobiology. , 2014.
• Liu YH, Wang YR, Xiang Y, Zhou HD, Giunta B, Mañucat-Tan NB, Tan J, Zhou XF, Wang YJ. Clearance of Amyloid-Beta in Alzheimer''s Disease: Shifting the Action Site from Center to Periphery. Molecular Neurobiology. , 2014.
• Sawmiller D, Li S, Shahaduzzaman M, Smith AJ, Obregon D, Giunta B, Borlongan CV, Sanberg PR, Tan J. Luteolin reduces Alzheimer''s disease pathologies induced by traumatic brain injury. International journal of molecular sciences. 15(1) : 895-904, 2014.
• Brown LA, Scarola J, Smith AJ, Sanberg PR, Tan J, Giunta B. The role of tau protein in HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders. Molecular neurodegeneration. 9(1) : 40, 2014.
• Li S, Deng J, Hou H, Tian J, Giunta B, Wang Y, Sawmiller D, Smith A, Sanberg PR, Obregon D, Mori T, Tan J. Specific antibody binding to the APP672-699 region shifts APP processing from α- to β-cleavage. Cell death & disease. 5: e1374, 2014.
• Brown LA, Jin J, Ferrell D, Sadic E, Obregon D, Smith AJ, Tan J, Giunta B. Efavirenz promotes β-secretase expression and increased Aβ1-40,42 via oxidative stress and reduced microglial phagocytosis: implications for HIV associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). PloS one. 9(4) : e95500, 2014.
• Liu YH, Zeng F, Wang YR, Zhou HD, Giunta B, Tan J, Wang YJ. Immunity and Alzheimer''s disease: immunological perspectives on the development of novel therapies. Drug discovery today. 18(23-24) : 1212-20, 2013.
• Smith AJ, Kim SH, Duggirala NK, Jin J, Wojtas L, Ehrhart J, Giunta B, Tan J, Zaworotko MJ, Shytle RD. Improving lithium therapeutics by crystal engineering of novel ionic cocrystals. Molecular pharmaceutics. 10(12) : 4728-38, 2013.
• Zhang SQ, Obregon D, Ehrhart J, Deng J, Tian J, Hou H, Giunta B, Sawmiller D, Tan J. Baicalein reduces β-amyloid and promotes nonamyloidogenic amyloid precursor protein processing in an Alzheimer''s disease transgenic mouse model. Journal of neuroscience research. 91(9) : 1239-46, 2013.
• Darlington D, Deng J, Giunta B, Hou H, Sanberg CD, Kuzmin-Nichols N, Zhou HD, Mori T, Ehrhart J, Sanberg PR, Tan J. Multiple low-dose infusions of human umbilical cord blood cells improve cognitive impairments and reduce amyloid-β-associated neuropathology in Alzheimer mice. Stem cells and development. 22(3) : 412-21, 2013.
• Hernandez-Ontiveros DG, Tajiri N, Acosta S, Giunta B, Tan J, Borlongan CV. Microglia activation as a biomarker for traumatic brain injury. Frontiers in neurology. 4: 30, 2013.
• Zhang SQ, Sawmiller D, Li S, Rezai-Zadeh K, Hou H, Zhou S, Shytle D, Giunta B, Fernandez F, Mori T, Tan J. Octyl gallate markedly promotes anti-amyloidogenic processing of APP through estrogen receptor-mediated ADAM10 activation. PloS one. 8(8) : e71913, 2013.
• Habib A, Deng J, Hou H, Zou Q, Giunta B, Wang YJ, Obregon D, Sawmiller D, Li S, Mori T, Tan J. Mycoplasma hyorhinis markedly degrades β-amyloid peptides in vitro and ex vivo: a novel biological approach for treating Alzheimer''s disease? American journal of translational research. 5(6) : 634-42, 2013.
• Liu YH, Giunta B, Zhou HD, Tan J, Wang YJ. Immunotherapy for Alzheimer disease: the challenge of adverse effects. Nature reviews. Neurology. 8(8) : 465-9, 2012.
• Qiao DL, Zhang SQ, Giunta B. Is vitamin D beneficial to Alzheimer disease? A surprising dilemma. CNS neuroscience & therapeutics. 18(7) : 601-3, 2012.
• Deng J, Hou H, Giunta B, Mori T, Wang YJ, Fernandez F, Weggen S, Araki W, Obregon D, Tan J. Autoreactive-Aβ antibodies promote APP β-secretase processing. Journal of neurochemistry. 120(5) : 732-40, 2012.
• Giunta B, Deng J, Jin J, Sadic E, Rum S, Zhou H, Sanberg P, Tan J. EVALUATION OF HOW CIGARETTE SMOKE IS A DIRECT RISK FACTOR FOR ALZHEIMER''S DISEASE. Technology and innovation. 14(1) : 39-48, 2012.
• Giunta B, Obregon D, Velisetty R, Sanberg PR, Borlongan CV, Tan J. The immunology of traumatic brain injury: a prime target for Alzheimer''s disease prevention. Journal of neuroinflammation. 9: 185, 2012.
• Obregon D, Hou H, Deng J, Giunta B, Tian J, Darlington D, Shahaduzzaman M, Zhu Y, Mori T, Mattson MP, Tan J. Soluble amyloid precursor protein-α modulates β-secretase activity and amyloid-β generation. Nature communications. 3: 777, 2012.
• Portis S, Giunta B, Obregon D, Tan J. The role of glycogen synthase kinase-3 signaling in neurodevelopment and fragile X syndrome. International journal of physiology, pathophysiology and pharmacology. 4(3) : 140-8, 2012.
• Jin J, Lam L, Sadic E, Fernandez F, Tan J, Giunta B. HIV-1 Tat-induced microglial activation and neuronal damage is inhibited via CD45 modulation: A potential new treatment target for HAND. American journal of translational research. 4(3) : 302-15, 2012.
• Zhu Y, Obregon D, Hou H, Giunta B, Ehrhart J, Fernandez F, Mori T, Nikolic W, Zhao Y, Morgan D, Town T, Tan J. Mutant presenilin-1 deregulated peripheral immunity exacerbates Alzheimer-like pathology. Journal of cellular and molecular medicine. 15(2) : 327-38, 2011.
• Smith AJ, Giunta B, Shytle RD, Blum JM. Evaluation of a novel supplement to reduce blood glucose through the use of a modified oral glucose tolerance test. American journal of translational research. 3(2) : 219-25, 2011.
• Zhu Y, Hou H, Rezai-Zadeh K, Giunta B, Ruscin A, Gemma C, Jin J, Dragicevic N, Bradshaw P, Rasool S, Glabe CG, Ehrhart J, Bickford P, Mori T, Obregon D, Town T, Tan J. CD45 deficiency drives amyloid-β peptide oligomers and neuronal loss in Alzheimer''s disease mice. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. 31(4) : 1355-65, 2011.
• Salemi J, Obregon DF, Cobb A, Reed S, Sadic E, Jin J, Fernandez F, Tan J, Giunta B. Flipping the switches: CD40 and CD45 modulation of microglial activation states in HIV associated dementia (HAD). Molecular neurodegeneration. 6(1) : 3, 2011.
• Giunta B, Ehrhart J, Obregon DF, Lam L, Le L, Jin J, Fernandez F, Tan J, Shytle RD. Antiretroviral medications disrupt microglial phagocytosis of β-amyloid and increase its production by neurons: implications for HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders. Molecular brain. 4(1) : 23, 2011.
• Zhang S, Salemi J, Hou H, Zhu Y, Mori T, Giunta B, Obregon D, Tan J. Rapamycin promotes beta-amyloid production via ADAM-10 inhibition. Biochemical and biophysical research communications. 398(3) : 337-41, 2010.
• Smith A, Giunta B, Bickford PC, Fountain M, Tan J, Shytle RD. Nanolipidic particles improve the bioavailability and alpha-secretase inducing ability of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) for the treatment of Alzheimer''s disease. International journal of pharmaceutics. 389(1-2) : 207-12, 2010.
• Giunta B, Hou H, Zhu Y, Salemi J, Ruscin A, Shytle RD, Tan J. Fish oil enhances anti-amyloidogenic properties of green tea EGCG in Tg2576 mice. Neuroscience letters. 471(3) : 134-8, 2010.
• Giunta B, Rezai-Zadeh K, Tan J. Impact of the CD40-CD40L dyad in Alzheimer''s disease. CNS & neurological disorders drug targets. 9(2) : 149-55, 2010.
• Brian Giunta, Amanda Ruscin, Jon Salemi, Alan Wolfson, Francisco Fernandez, Jun Tan. The central role of T-cell memory in Alzheimer’s disease vaccination Ageing Research. 1(1) , 2010.
• Parker-Athill E, Luo D, Bailey A, Giunta B, Tian J, Shytle RD, Murphy T, Legradi G, Tan J. Flavonoids, a prenatal prophylaxis via targeting JAK2/STAT3 signaling to oppose IL-6/MIA associated autism. Journal of neuroimmunology. 217(1-2) : 20-7, 2009.
• Giunta B, Figueroa KP, Town T, Tan J. SOLUBLE CD40 LIGAND IN DEMENTIA. Drugs of the future. 34(4) : 333-340, 2009.
• Giunta B, Hou H, Zhu Y, Rrapo E, Tian J, Takashi M, Commins D, Singer E, He J, Fernandez F, Tan J. HIV-1 Tat contributes to Alzheimer''s disease-like pathology in PSAPP mice. International journal of clinical and experimental pathology. 2(5) : 433-43, 2009.
• Rrapo E, Zhu Y, Tian J, Hou H, Smith A, Fernandez F, Tan J, Giunta B. Green Tea-EGCG reduces GFAP associated neuronal loss in HIV-1 Tat transgenic mice. American journal of translational research. 1(1) : 72-9, 2009.
• Caserta MT, Bannon Y, Fernandez F, Giunta B, Schoenberg MR, Tan J. Normal brain aging clinical, immunological, neuropsychological, and neuroimaging features. International review of neurobiology. 84: 1-19, 2009.
• Shapshak P, Somboonwit C, Drumright LN, Frost SD, Commins D, Tellinghuisen TL, Scott WK, Duncan R, McCoy C, Page JB, Giunta B, Fernandez F, Singer E, Levine A, Minagar A, Oluwadara O, Kotila T, Chiappelli F, Sinnott JT. Molecular and contextual markers of hepatitis C virus and drug abuse. Molecular diagnosis & therapy. 13(3) : 153-79, 2009.
• Zhu Y, Bickford PC, Sanberg P, Giunta B, Tan J. Blueberry opposes beta-amyloid peptide-induced microglial activation via inhibition of p44/42 mitogen-activation protein kinase. Rejuvenation research. 11(5) : 891-901, 2008.
• Nikolic WV, Hou H, Town T, Zhu Y, Giunta B, Sanberg CD, Zeng J, Luo D, Ehrhart J, Mori T, Sanberg PR, Tan J. Peripherally administered human umbilical cord blood cells reduce parenchymal and vascular beta-amyloid deposits in Alzheimer mice. Stem cells and development. 17(3) : 423-39, 2008.
• Obregon D, Hou H, Bai Y, Nikolic WV, Mori T, Luo D, Zeng J, Ehrhart J, Fernandez F, Morgan D, Giunta B, Town T, Tan J. CD40L disruption enhances Abeta vaccine-mediated reduction of cerebral amyloidosis while minimizing cerebral amyloid angiopathy and inflammation. Neurobiology of disease. 29(2) : 336-53, 2008.
• Giunta B, Fernandez F, Nikolic WV, Obregon D, Rrapo E, Town T, Tan J. Inflammaging as a prodrome to Alzheimer''s disease. Journal of neuroinflammation. 5: 51, 2008.
• Giunta B, Zhou Y, Hou H, Rrapo E, Fernandez F, Tan J. HIV-1 TAT inhibits microglial phagocytosis of Abeta peptide. International journal of clinical and experimental pathology. 1(3) : 260-75, 2008.
• Bailey AR, Giunta BN, Obregon D, Nikolic WV, Tian J, Sanberg CD, Sutton DT, Tan J. Peripheral biomarkers in Autism: secreted amyloid precursor protein-alpha as a probable key player in early diagnosis. International journal of clinical and experimental medicine. 1(4) : 338-44, 2008.
• Zhu Y, Hou H, Nikolic WV, Ehrhart J, Rrapo E, Bickford P, Giunta B, Tan J. CD45RB is a novel molecular therapeutic target to inhibit Abeta peptide-induced microglial MAPK activation. PloS one. 3(5) : e2135, 2008.
• Obregon D, Hou H, Bai Y, Nikolic WV, Mori T, Luo D, Zeng J, Ehrhart J, Fernandez F, Morgan D, Giunta B, Town T, Tan J. CD40L disruption enhances Abeta vaccine-mediated reduction of cerebral amyloidosis while minimizing cerebral amyloid angiopathy and inflammation. Neurobiol Dis. 2(29) : 336-53., 2007.
• Nikolic WV, Bai Y, Obregon D, Hou H, Mori T, Zeng J, Ehrhart J, Shytle RD, Giunta B, Morgan D, Town T, Tan J. Transcutaneous beta-amyloid immunization reduces cerebral beta-amyloid deposits without T cell infiltration and microhemorrhage. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 104(7) : 2507-12, 2007.
• Legradi G, Das M, Giunta B, Hirani K, Mitchell EA, Diamond DM. Microinfusion of pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide into the central nucleus of amygdala of the rat produces a shift from an active to passive mode of coping in the shock-probe fear/defensive burying test. Neural plasticity. 2007: 79102, 2007.
• Giunta B, Somboonwit C, Nikolic WV, Rrapo E, Tan J, Shapshak P, Fernandez F. Psychiatric implications of hepatitis-C infection. Crit Rev Neurobiol. 2(19) : 79-118, 2007.
• Giunta B, Somboonwit C, Nikolic WV, Rrapo E, Tan J, Shapshak P, Fernandez F. Psychiatric implications of hepatitis-C infection. Critical reviews in neurobiology. 19(2-3) : 79-118, 2007.
• Giunta B, Obregon D, Hou H, Zeng J, Sun N, Nikolic V, Ehrhart J, Shytle D, Fernandez F, Tan J. EGCG mitigates neurotoxicity mediated by HIV-1 proteins gp120 and Tat in the presence of IFN-gamma: role of JAK/STAT1 signaling and implications for HIV-associated dementia. Brain research. 1123(1) : 216-25, 2006.
• Giunta B, Ehrhart J, Townsend K, Sun N, Vendrame M, Shytle D, Tan J, Fernandez F. Galantamine and nicotine have a synergistic effect on inhibition of microglial activation induced by HIV-1 gp120. Brain research bulletin. 64(2) : 165-70, 2004.
• Tranberg CE, Zickgraf A, Giunta BN, Luetjens H, Figler H, Murphree LJ, Falke R, Fleischer H, Linden J, Scammells PJ, Olsson RA. 2-Amino-3-aroyl-4,5-alkylthiophenes: agonist allosteric enhancers at human A(1) adenosine receptors. Journal of medicinal chemistry. 45(2) : 382-9, 2002.

Awards/Honors

• Emory University Future Leader in Psychiatry (Emory University - 2007)
• Young Investigator Award in Drug Discovery, Development, and Regulatory Affairs (American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) - 2007)
• Anthony J. Reading M.D. Award for Outstanding Fourth Year Student in Psychiatry (University of South Florida College of Medicine - 2004)
• University of South Florida College of Arts and Sciences Honor Society (University of South Florida - 1996)
• Florida Academic Scholarship (State of Florida - 1994)