Bacterial signal transduction: PhoQ
S. Miller Lab – University of Washington
The PhoQ/PhoP two-component regulatory system plays a critical role in bacterial virulence. PhoQ is a sensor kinase that senses the environment in which the bacterium is found and either represses or activates genes that are key to the bacteria’s ability to infect its host. In a collaborative project with Prof. Samuel Miller (Dept. of Microbiology), we are using NMR and AUC to determine the structural strategies employed by PhoQ to detect and respond to environmental signals such as divalent cation concentrations, pH, and innate host antimicrobial peptides.
S. Miller Lab – University of Washington
The PhoQ/PhoP two-component regulatory system plays a critical role in bacterial virulence. PhoQ is a sensor kinase that senses the environment in which the bacterium is found and either represses or activates genes that are key to the bacteria’s ability to infect its host. In a collaborative project with Prof. Samuel Miller (Dept. of Microbiology), we are using NMR and AUC to determine the structural strategies employed by PhoQ to detect and respond to environmental signals such as divalent cation concentrations, pH, and innate host antimicrobial peptides.
Fuzzy Complexes: How the intrinsically disordered transcriptional activator, Gcn4, recognizes its binding partners.
Hahn Lab – Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
We are collaborating with Dr. Steve Hahn at The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to discover the underlying principles that determine how intrinsically disordered acidic transcriptional activators are recognized and bound by a variety of mediator proteins. We have recently published the “fuzzy” complex formed between a region of the activator, Gcn4, and the mediator, Gal11.
