Molecular mechanisms controlling stress responses and cell adhesion in bacteria

项目总结/摘要 我的小组试图了解细菌细胞在环境中生存能力的分子机制。 复杂、动态的环境，包括哺乳动物宿主。在这个项目中，我们将特别 集中于定义细菌（i）调节其生理以在环境压力下生存的机制， 和（ii）调节和修饰它们的包膜以控制对表面和其它细胞的粘附。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尺度问题。的数据 我们的研究将增强对细菌在环境中生长和生存的过程的理解。 复杂的环境，并将告知基因调控和细胞包膜生物学的新概念。更 具体而言，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导致对分子生物学的更好理解。 细菌构建高度复杂结构的机制，称为包膜，它将细菌与细菌之间的相互作用分开。 细胞质中受到外界严格控制的活动。重要的是，环境监管 细菌细胞被膜的蛋白质和组分是许多细菌中定义明确的毒力决定因子。 细菌病原体因此，我们的工作有可能为新的治疗途径提供信息，以控制某些 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.