MSI PIs Mark Herzberg (professor, Diagnostic and Biological Sciences; Masonic Cancer Center) and Gianluigi Veglia (professor, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics) are authors on a paper that reveals a new signaling pathway that helps bacteria survive in dental plaque. The pathway regulates surface proteins that allow bacteria to adhere to surfaces. The paper was published in the journal Science Signaling earlier this month.
A Research Brief about this research appears on the University of Minnesota News site: Research Brief: Surface Protein Editing in Bacteria. The paper itself can be found on the journal website: An Intramembrane Sensory Circuit Monitors Sortase A-mediated Processing of Streptococcal Adhesions.
Professor Herzberg uses MSI for interdisciplinary studies of antimicrobial proteins and their interactions with bacteria. Professor Veglia uses computational approaches to understand and interpreting conformational dynamics information obtained from NMR studies of protein complexes.