W. Thomas Shier, PhD

Expertise

Antibiotics, Mycotoxins, Cell killing mechanisms, Syntaxins

Awards & Recognition

Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2001

Research Summary

Research in the Shier laboratory is focused on the following three areas:

1. Necrosis as a potential cell killing mechanism for use by antibody-drug conjugates
   (ADCs);
2. Fungi that infect plants from the soil enter roots by releasing mycotoxins that target
   dividing cells in meristematic tissue. These mycotoxins are being investigated as a
   potential source of anti-cancer antibiotics;
3. Inhibition of syntaxin function in membrane fusion as a drug development target for
   anticancer and antiviral drugs.

PubMed

• Ilyas M, Shad AA, Bakht J, Villalta P, Shier WT. (2024) Insight into metabolites profiling and pharmacological investigation of Aconitum heterophyllum wall ex. Royle stem through experimental and bioinformatics techniques. ACS Omega, 9, 26922-26940. doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.3c09668.
• Hadi A, Yaqoob M, Hussain F, Alkahraman YMSA, Jan MS, Mahmood A, Shier T, Rashid U. (2024) Antileishmanial potential of thiourea-based derivatives; design, synthesis and biological activity. RSC Advances, 14, 37131, doi.org/10.1039/d4ra04965a.
• Greatens N, Murithi HM, Coyne D. Clough SJ, Sulyok M, Okunowo WO, Abbas HK, Shier WT, Koch Bach RA.(2025) Production of the light-activated elsinochrome phytotoxin in the soybean pathogen Coniothyrium glycines hints at virulence factor. PLOS One, 20(5), e0321896, doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0321896.
• Khan SA, Rather MA, Jia Z, Qadir SM, Khan MU, Ejaz H, Alruwaili M, Baughn AD, Shier WT, Ahmad MS. (2025) Discovery of antitubercular potential of trans-3-indoleacrylic acid and its derivatives targeting Mycobacterium tuberculosis: A combined in vitro and in silico investigation. Bioorganic Chemistry, 163, 108668, doi.org/10.1016/j.bioorg.2025.108668.
• Ullah TS, Firdous SS, Shaheen H, Hussain J, Shier WT, Khalid AN. (2025) Metabolic and proteomic analysis of a medicinal morel (Morchella elata) from Western Himalayas, Kashmir. Metabolomics, 21, 34, doi.org/10.1007/s11306-025-02222-6.
• Paulk RT, Abbas HK, Rojas MG, Ramos JM, Busman M, Little N, Shier WT. (2025) Evaluating Acheta domesticus (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) for the reduction of fumonisin B 1 levels in livestock feed. Journal of Economic Entomology, 118, 63-70. doi.org/10.1093/jee/toae273
• Accinelli C, Bruno V, Abbas HK, Morena C, Khambhati VK, Vicari A, Shier WT. (2025) Microplastic uptake by birds: from observation to development of a novel seed coating approach to prevent bird predation of corn seeds. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 32, doi.org/10.1007/s11356-025-36115-x