Brenda A. Wilson

(MENAFN- The Conversation)

• Professor of Microbiology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Profile Articles

Research areas: Bacterial protein toxins, their interaction with host cells, their effects on intracellular signal transduction, and development of novel alternative anti-toxin therapeutics; human and nonhuman primate vaginal and gut microbial ecosystems (microbiomes) and their role in health and disease

Research in the Wilson laboratory involves studying the molecular interactions and biochemical mechanisms by which protein toxins produced by pathogenic bacteria cause their toxic effects on animal cells. When the bacterial toxins are released into the media of the host, they can interact with or even enter host cells and interfere with normal signal transduction and physiological function, thereby disrupting the delicate balance of cellular metabolism, often lethally. One project involves studying the structure, function and pathogenic mechanisms of the potent dermonecrotic toxins produced by Pasteurella multocida, Bordetella sp., E. coli, and Yersinia. Like many other toxins, these toxins are currently being used as potent tools for studying signal transduction pathways and physiological processes within cells. The laboratory is interested in understanding the underlying mechanism of how these toxins carry out their effects on these processes.

For example, the laboratory has discovered that the pleiotropic effects on different tissue cells caused by the toxin from P. multocida is due to the diverse roles that the toxin's targets have in different cell types, which in turn influence the cellular and organismic outcomes of toxin action. Research efforts for this project include: (1) defining the cellular binding and uptake mechanisms that mediate toxin entry into host cell cytosol and translocation across vesicular membranes into the cytosol; (2) characterizing the determinants involved in intoxication and identifying additional toxin features that dictate differential intracellular trafficking among the PMT-CNF family members; and (3) screening and testing for functional activity additional putative CNF- and PMT-like domains found in a large number of bacterial genomes.

Experience

• –present Professor of Microbiology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

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