Linda J KENNEY
Alumni, Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore
ZHUANG Zirui
PhD Student, Class of August 2025, Li Group
ZHAO Jiayu
PhD Student, Class of August 2025, Kanchanawong Group
YAN Chengrui
PhD Student, Class of August 2025, Yan Jie Group
NGUYEN Dinh Thach Lam
PhD Student, Class of August 2025, Hirashima Group
Linda J Kenney
Alumni
Research Areas
Signal transduction in bacteria; Bacterial Pathogenesis; Mechanotransduction and osmotic signaling in E. coli; Mechanisms of anti-silencing of virulence genes in Salmonella
Research Interests
Our laboratory is interested in signal transduction and the regulation of gene expression in prokaryotes. In particular, we are studying the two-component regulatory system EnvZ/OmpR that regulates the expression of outer membrane proteins as well as many other genes. Our present work focuses on how OmpR activates genes required for systemic infection (located on Salmonella pathogenicity island 2) in Salmonella enterica.
The Kenney Lab’s research was recently featured in an article exploring the bacterial molecular switch between virulence or dormancy, Salmonella Lifestyle Choices. Members of her lab have discovered that the bacterial protein SsrB is the molecular switch for determining whether Salmonella infections become acute and virulent, or remain in a dormant carrier state.
The study is published in eLife (Desai et al., The horizontally-acquired response regulator SsrB drives a Salmonella lifestyle switch by relieving biofilm silencing, February 2, 2016, eLife 2016; 5: e10747, doi: 10.7554/eLife.10747). Read full article.
Biography
Dr Kenney is a Professor of Microbiology at the University of Illinois-Chicago. Her laboratory studies two-component systems in bacteria that control gene expression at a single cell and nanometer level.
Professor Linda J Kenney and Professor Michael Sheetz interviewed by the Washington Post at the April 2017 March for Science.
Education
PhD University of Pennsylvania
Recent Publications
- Fernandez M, Yamanaka Y, Zangoui P, White MA, and Kenney LJ. The sulfur assimilation pathway mitigates redox stress from acidic pH in Salmonella Typhi H58. mBio 2025;:e0046725. [PMID: 40422406]
- Shetty D, and Kenney LJ. A pH-sensitive switch activates virulence in Salmonella. Elife 2023; 12. [PMID: 37706506]
- Oh D, Liu X, Sheetz MP, and Kenney LJ. Small, Dynamic Clusters of Tir-Intimin Seed Actin Polymerization. Small 2023;:e2302580. [PMID: 37649226]
- Mon KKZ, Si Z, Chan-Park MB, and Kenney LJ. Polyimidazolium Protects against an Invasive Clinical Isolate of Salmonella Typhimurium. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2022;:e0059722. [PMID: 36094258]
- Jacob H, Geng H, Shetty D, Halow N, Kenney LJ, and Nakano MM. Distinct Interaction Mechanism of RNAP and ResD and Distal Subsites for Transcription Activation of Nitrite Reductase in Bacillus subtilisψ. J Bacteriol 2021;:JB0043221. [PMID: 34898263]
- Singh MK, Zangoui P, Yamanaka Y, and Kenney LJ. Genetic code expansion enables visualization of Salmonella type three secretion system components and secreted effectors. Elife 2021; 10. [PMID: 34061032]
- Kenney LJ, and Anand GS. EnvZ/OmpR Two-Component Signaling: An Archetype System That Can Function Noncanonically. EcoSal Plus 2020; 9(1). [PMID: 32003321]
- Desai SK, and Kenney LJ. Switching Lifestyles Is an in vivo Adaptive Strategy of Bacterial Pathogens. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2019; 9:421. [PMID: 31921700]
- Desai SK, Padmanabhan A, Harshe S, Zaidel-Bar R, and Kenney LJ. Salmonella biofilms program innate immunity for persistence in Caenorhabditis elegans. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2019;. [PMID: 31160462]
- Ottemann KM, and Kenney LJ. Editorial overview: Host-pathogen interactions: bacteria. Curr. Opin. Microbiol. 2019; 47:iii-v. [PMID: 31138403]
Lab Members
Genome Regulation
Genome Regulation Genome regulation encompasses all facets of gene expression, from the biochemical modifications of DNA, to the physical arrangement of chromosomes and the activity of the transcription machinery. The genome regulation programs that [...]
What is caveolar endocytosis?
What is caveolar endocytosis? Macropinocytosis or ‘cell drinking’ is a type of endocytosis that involves the nonspecific uptake of extracellular material, such as soluble molecules, nutrients, and antigens. First observed in 1931 by Warren [...]
What are chromosomes and chromosome territories?
What are chromosomes and chromosome territories? While metaphase chromosomes can be depicted as distinct bodies with well-defined shapes and sizes, interphase chromosomes are less uniform and, by filling the nuclear space, difficult to distinguish. [...]
What is the nucleus?
What is the nucleus? The nucleus is an organelle found in most eukaryotic cells, the exception being red blood cells. In animal cells it is both the largest and stiffest organelle and is easily [...]
How does the nucleus facilitate mechanotransduction?
What properties of the nucleus facilitate mechanotransduction? Similar to the concept of long distance force propagation along the cytoskeleton, the prestressed nuclear state, which counterbalances intracellular forces from the cytoskeleton, enables mechanotransduction [1][2]. Both [...]
How is the nucleus coupled to the cytoskeleton?
How is the nucleus coupled to the cytoskeleton? Cytoskeletal filaments bridge the nucleus to the plasma membrane, which in turn is anchored at sub-cellular sites to extracellular substrates via a plethora of proteins that [...]
What are nucleosomes?
What are nucleosomes? In order to fit DNA into the nucleus, it must be packaged into a highly compacted structure known as chromatin. In the first step of this process DNA is condensed into [...]
What are chromatin, heterochromatin and euchromatin?
What is chromatin, heterochromatin and euchromatin? The human genome contains over 3 billion base pairs or nucleotides. These nucleotides, which are arranged in a linear sequence along DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), encode every protein and [...]
How is nuclear “prestress” maintained?
How is nuclear “prestress” maintained? As an integral part of cellular behavior, cells are sensitive to matrix rigidity, local geometry and stress or strain applied by external factors [1]. In recent years, it has [...]
What is translation?
What is translation? Translation is a process that involves the synthesis of an amino acid chain from an mRNA blueprint. These polypeptide chains fold into functional proteins. Translation occurs outside the nucleus once nuclear [...]
How is DNA replicated?
How is DNA replicated? Cells must replicate their DNA before they can divide. This ensures that each daughter cell gets a copy of the genome, and therefore, successful inheritance of genetic traits. DNA replication [...]
How do chromosome territory dynamics affect gene redistribution?
How do chromosome territory dynamics affect gene redistribution? The spatial organization of chromatin within the 3-dimensional space of a chromosome territory enables the co-localization of co-transcribed genes and their transcriptional foci. Many gene positioning [...]
