RNA-binding proteins in bacterial virulence and host-pathogen interactions

项目总结 细菌快速感知并对环境变化做出反应的能力是基本的 为殖民干杯。转录后调控正在成为促进 有效和精确地控制细菌的毒力，因此在致病过程中起着核心作用。 肠出血性大肠埃希菌O157：H7(EHEC)是一种定植于 引起严重出血性结肠炎和溶血性尿毒症综合征(HUS)， 可能是致命的。EHEC能够有效地获得营养并协调表达以下特征 促进肠道定植，表明EHEC在时空上进化了机制 控制毒力基因的表达，使其出现在适当的寄主生态位内。RNA结合蛋白发挥作用 在细菌基因表达中的重要作用通过调节转录终止，RNA稳定性， 和翻译；然而，大多数RNA结合蛋白和 对细菌毒力和宿主相互作用的相应影响没有得到很好的解决。这个 拟议的工作将阐明RNA结合蛋白的调节机制以及对 肠道内的适合性，以及检查这些RNA结合蛋白是如何在肠道内激活的 转录网络和对宿主线索的反应。

PROJECT SUMMARY The ability of bacteria to rapidly sense and respond to changes in the environment is fundamental to colonization. Post-transcriptional regulation is emerging as an important strategy that promotes efficient and precise control of bacterial virulence, and thus plays a central role in pathogenesis. Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 (EHEC) is a bacterial pathogen that colonizes the human colon and causes severe hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which can be fatal. EHEC is able to efficiently acquire nutrients and coordinate expression of traits that promote intestinal colonization, suggesting that EHEC has evolved mechanisms to spatiotemporally control virulence gene expression to occur within appropriate host niches. RNA binding proteins play important roles in bacterial gene expression by modulating transcription termination, RNA stability, and translation; however, the targets and molecular mechanisms of most RNA binding proteins and the corresponding impact on bacterial virulence and host interactions are poorly resolved. The proposed work will elucidate the regulatory mechanisms of RNA binding proteins and importance to fitness within the intestine, as well as examine how these RNA binding proteins are activated within transcriptional networks and in response to host cues.