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| Project ID/Title: | 07-07. Interactions of Bacterial Toxin with Mammalian Membranes | | Advisor: | Alison Weiss | | Academic Title: | Professor | | Department: | Molecular Genetics | | Department Website: | http://molgen.uc.edu/index.php | | Email: | weissaa@ucmail.uc.edu | | Phone: | 513-558-2820 | | Fax: | 513-558-8474 | | Graduate Program(s): | Molecular Genetics | | Co-Advisor(s): | Suri Iyer, Department of Chemistry | | Project Description: | While the ability of bacterial toxins to alter cytoplasmic targets and reprogram cellular behavior is well documented, we are now finding that many bacterial toxins also produce previously unrecognized cellular alterations at the cell membrane. Research in the Weiss lab has focused on the interaction of bacterial toxins with the mammalian cell membrane. There are two specific toxins of interest. 1. Pertussis toxin can influence the ability to mount an effective immune response. Recently we have shown that pertussis toxin also disrupts immune signaling by clustering and promoting activation of cell-surface receptors in the absence of the appropriate signal. While this activity prevents the generation of the appropriate immune response to Bordetella pertussis, pertussis toxin modulation of cell surface membrane receptors has been shown to inhibit HIV replication in T cells. We are currently studying the molecular basis for this phenomenon. 2. We have recently determined that variants of Shiga toxin adhere to different lipopolysaccharides. The recent results are important because Shiga toxin 2 has been implicated in the development of severe disease such as hemolytic uremic syndrome. Understanding the fundamental basis of the interaction of the toxin with the glycolipid in a lipid bilayer format is critical to the development of therapeutics and diagnostics. |
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