Linda J KENNEY
Alumni, Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore
Seeking Scientific Communicator at the Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore
The Mechanobiology Institute (MBI), National University of Singapore (NUS), seeks to recruit a Scientific Communicator.
Melvino Sin
Senior Laboratory Executive, SIMBA
Seeking Research Fellow in Dr Alphée Michelot’s Group at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS
We are seeking to recruit a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the group of Dr Alphée Michelot at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS.
Seeking Laboratory Technologist (Wet Lab Core Facility) at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS
The Mechanobiology Institute (MBI), National University of Singapore (NUS), is seeking to recruit a Laboratory Technologist (Wet Lab Core Facility).
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 are Ran GTPases?
What are Ran GTPases? The Ran (Ran-related or Ras-like nuclear) protein is the single member of the Ran subfamily, and the most abundant small GTPase in the cell. Like the other small GTPases, Ran [...]
What are Ras GTPases?
What are Ras GTPases? The Ras family of small GTPases were originally discovered during a search for oncogenic retroviruses. Named for their ability to cause rat sarcomas, human RAS genes were identified in 1982 [...]
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 [...]
How are focal adhesion dynamics regulated?
How are focal adhesion dynamics regulated? The highly dynamic and complex molecular composition of focal adhesions is regulated by a number of physico-chemical signals arising from its surroundings, such as extracellular matrix stiffness, topography, [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
How do nascent adhesions grow into mature focal adhesions?
How do nascent adhesions grow into mature focal adhesions? Nascent adhesions undergo a transient phase of rapid assembly and disassembly through which a fraction of adhesions survive to evolve into more stable and larger [...]
What is the role of Rho GTPases in the regulation of focal adhesion assembly?
What is the role of Rho GTPases in the regulation of focal adhesion assembly? Synergistic integrin-syndecan signaling The rate and extent of focal adhesion formation and maturation are regulated by factors such as synergistic [...]
What is the first step in focal adhesion assembly?
What is the first step in focal adhesion assembly? Focal adhesion formation is initiated upon the binding of adhesion receptors to extracellular matrix (ECM) ligands (e.g. fibronectin, vitronectin, collagen) along the cell periphery usually [...]
How do focal adhesions mature?
How do focal adhesions mature? Adhesions that manage to grow beyond the transient phase further undergo qualitative changes in a phase described as maturation. This transformation of adhesion sites into stress-fiber bound focal adhesions [...]
How do focal adhesions disassemble?
How do focal adhesions disassemble? Disassembly is critical during cell spreading and forward movement to allow FAs to extend outwards towards the cell periphery [1]. Disassembly of adhesions can take place as a result [...]
How are proteins sequentially recruited to focal adhesion sites?
How are proteins recruited to focal adhesion sites? The chronological order of protein recruitment into focal adhesions leads to the concept of sequential assembly. Accordingly, the exact composition of each elongating adhesions is dependent [...]
