Linda J KENNEY
Alumni, Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore
Nicole Ng Shu Ying
Research Assistant, Hirashima Group
Jevon Tan
PhD Student (DBS), Low Group
Chang Ye Ji
PhD Student, Biomedical Engineering Dept, Holle Group
Gao Xu
PhD Student, Biomedical Engineering Dept, Holle 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
Why Salmonella decide to lay low
Studying dormant biofilms in live worm hosts
Prof Jacques Prost visiting from Institut Curie
Jacques Prost, Emeritus Research Director, Institut Curie, Département de Physicochimie du Vivant, visiting 16 Jul - 20 Aug 2019.
MBI Deputy Director becomes the first NUS-based EMBO Associate Member
MBI Deputy Director Professor GV Shivashankar has been elected as an Associate Member of EMBO (the European Molecular Biology Organization) making him the first scientist from NUS, and only the third Singapore-based Scientist, to be elected to the prestigious EMBO membership.
Goh Wei Jia
Alumni, Tee YH Group
Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore, has a new director
MBI welcomes Professor Li Rong, as MBI's new director. Professor Li joins us from Johns Hopkins University, where she has been a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at the School of Medicine and the Whiting School of Engineering since 2015. Professor Li is also the director of the Center for Cell Dynamics at the School of Medicine’s Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences.
Swati Sen
Alumni, Viasnoff Group
Guy Tran Van Nhieu visiting from Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Biology, Collège de France
Guy Tran Van Nhieu from the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Biology, Collège de France is visiting from 6 May - 30 July.
MBI Research Associate Visalatchi Thiagarajan chosen one of Singapore’s top ten techs
MBI Research Associate Visalatchi Thiagarajan has been chosen as one of the top ten laboratory technicians in Singapore, in the inaugural Lab Tech of the Year 2019 awards given out by Asian Scientist Magazine.
Somsubhro Mukherjee
Alumni, Low Group
Dr Hu Xian Edna visiting from University of Oslo
Dr Hu Xian Edna from University of Oslo is visiting from 25 Mar - 23 Apr 2019.
Prof GV Shivashankar featured on Becoming Human, Channel News Asia
MBI Principal Investigator and Deputy Director Professor GV Shivashankar is featured in the Channel News Asia documentary series, Becoming Human: Unnatural Genius to discuss how his lab uses AI and and nuclear mechanogenomic architecture to detect early stage cancer cells.
Myosin motors show their muscle
How cells generate high forces for testing the softness of their environment
