Linda J KENNEY
Alumni, Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore
Seeking Research Assistant in Cell Mechanics and Mechanobiology at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS
We are seeking a Research Assistant in Cell Mechanics and Mechanobiology in the lab of Prof. Lim Chwee Teck at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS.
Seeking Research Assistant in the labs of Dr. Natalie Dye and Dr. Alphée Michelot at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS
We are seeking a Research Assistant to join the labs of Dr. Natalie Dye and Dr. Alphée Michelot at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS.
Seeking Research Fellow in the lab of Prof. Rong Li at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS
We are seeking a Research Fellow to join the lab of Prof. Rong Li at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS
Seeking Research Fellow in the lab of Dr. Anne Beghin at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS
We are seeking a Research Fellow to join the lab of Dr. Anne Beghin at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS
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
What is the NF-κB pathway?
What is the NF-κB pathway? NF-κB (nuclear factor kappa light chain enhancer of activated B cells) is a family of highly conserved transcription factors that regulate many important cellular behaviours, in particular, inflammatory responses, [...]
How is integrin activated?
How is integrin activated? Integrin activation is an important mechanism through which cells regulate integrin function by manipulating the ligand affinity of integrins spatially and temporally. Structural and functional studies suggest that integrins can [...]
How is SRF signaling activated?
How is SRF signaling activated? Myocardin, MAL (or MRTF-A) and MRTF-B are the best-studied examples of MRTFs. In the cytoplasm, MRTFs exist in a stable complex with monomeric G-actin via RPEL domains, which exist [...]
What is the Canonical Wnt Receptor Signaling Pathway?
What is the Canonical Wnt Receptor Signaling Pathway? The canonical Wnt receptor signaling pathway is a series of molecular events that are initiated by the binding of Wnt proteins to the frizzled family of [...]
What is the Hippo-YAP/TAZ tumor-suppressor pathway?
What is the Hippo-YAP/TAZ tumor-suppressor pathway? Mechanical cues control Hippo-YAP/TAZ tumor-suppressor pathway The Hippo signaling pathway is a complex network of proteins that controls organ size via regulation of cellular proliferation, survival and differentiation. [...]
Which biochemical pathways are regulated by mechanical signals?
Which biochemical pathways are regulated by mechanical signals? Biochemical Mechanotransduction Cells are capable of relaying mechanical stimuli from their physical environment all the way down to the nucleus through electrochemical, biochemical or mechanical pathways. [...]
What is Serum Response Factor?
What is Serum Response Factor? Serum response factor (SRF) is a transcription factor that plays a key role in the transduction of mechanical signals from cytoplasmic actin and the extracellular environment, to the cell [...]
Mechanosignaling
What is mechanosignaling?Cells, whether prokaryotic (unicellular) or eukaryotic (multicellular), constantly interact with their environment. In the case of prokaryotic cells, environmental cues may initiate cellular functions such as cell division, sporulation or cell motility. These [...]
How do small GTPases regulate mechanosignaling pathways?
How do small GTPases regulate mechanosignaling pathways? The small GTPases are a superfamily of enzymes that function as ‘molecular switches’ and are involved in regulating many cellular processes. All small GTPases transduce information through [...]
What are Arf GTPases?
What are Arf GTPases? ADP-ribosylation factor (Arf) GTPases are a subfamily of the Ras superfamily of small GTPases. Arf proteins perform diverse and critical functions in fundamental cellular processes like membrane trafficking, lipid modification, [...]
Are focal adhesions dynamic?
Are focal adhesion dynamic? In migrating cells, turnover of adhesion components happens throughout the adhesion life cycle, with a shift in equilibrium between rates of recruitment and removal during the various stages. At the [...]
What are focal adhesions?
What are focal adhesions? Focal adhesions are integrin-containing, multi-protein structures that form mechanical links between intracellular actin bundles and the extracellular matrix or substrate in many cell types [1]. The formation and function of [...]
