Molecular mechanisms controlling stress responses and cell adhesion in bacteria

项目概要/摘要 我的小组致力于了解细菌细胞在环境中生存的能力的分子机制 复杂、动态的环境，包括哺乳动物宿主。在这个项目的背景下，我们将特别 专注于定义细菌的机制（i）调节其生理机能以适应环境压力， (ii) 调节和修改其包膜以控制对表面和其他细胞的粘附。我们将利用一个 一套跨学科的遗传、生物化学、生物物理和计算方法来解决这些问题 从细胞/系统水平到分子结构水平的多个尺度的问题。数据表明 我们的研究中出现的结果将增强对细菌生长和生存过程的理解 复杂的环境，并将为基因调控和细胞包膜生物学的新概念提供信息。更多 具体来说，该项目将为科学界提供对感官的综合理解 转导机制，从信号检测到细胞反应。此外，我们对细菌的研究 细胞粘附和包膜多糖生物合成将提高对分子的理解 细菌构建高度复杂的结构（称为包膜）的机制，该结构将 细胞质中的活动受到外界严格控制。重要的是，无论是环境监管 细菌细胞包膜的蛋白质和成分是许多细菌中明确的毒力决定因素。 细菌病原体。因此，我们的工作有可能为控制某些疾病提供新的治疗途径。 细菌感染。

Project Summary/Abstract My group seeks to understand molecular mechanisms that underlie the ability of bacterial cells to survive in complex, dynamic environments, including mammalian hosts. In the context of this project, we will specifically focus on defining mechanisms by which bacteria (i) regulate their physiology to survive environmental stress, and (ii) regulate and modify their envelope to control adhesion to surfaces and to other cells. We will utilize an interdisciplinary set of genetic, biochemical, biophysical, and computational approaches to address these questions on multiple scales, from the cellular/systems level to the level of molecular structure. The data that emerge from our studies will enhance understanding of processes that allow bacteria to grow and survive in complex environments, and will inform new concepts in gene regulation and cell envelope biology. More specifically, this project will provide the scientific community with an integrative understanding of sensory transduction mechanisms, from signal detection to cellular response. In addition, our investigations of bacterial cell adhesion and envelope polysaccharide biosynthesis will lead to improved understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which bacteria build the highly complex structure known as the envelope, which separates the tightly controlled activities in the cytoplasm from the outside world. Importantly, both environmental regulatory proteins and components of the bacterial cell envelope are well-defined virulence determinants in many bacterial pathogens. Thus our work has the potential to inform new therapeutic routes to control certain bacterial infections.