Linda J KENNEY
Alumni, Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore
What types of forces do cells encounter?
What types of forces do cells encounter?Cells and subcellular structures experience forces from a variety of sources. In general, forces are developed from within the cell via the cytoskeleton (endogenous forces) or come from outside [...]
Is Mechanosensing an Active Process?
Is Mechanosensing an Active Process?Types of MechanosensingWhen a cell periodically tests its external environment, a mechanical signal is converted to a chemical signal across the cell membrane. Adhesion receptors located on the external cell membrane [...]
How is Energy Transferred Across the Cellular System?
How is Energy Transferred Across the Cellular System?Cellular systems function at a nanometer level and use a highly dynamic set of components. Both of these factors act as primary constraints that prevent the generation of [...]
How are forces transduced in a cellular environment?
How are forces transduced in a cellular environment?The application of the tensegrity, semiflexible chain and dipole polarization models to biological scenarios has proven most successful in the case of the tensegrity hypothesis (as reviewed in [...]
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
Prit Benny Malgulwar
Research Fellow IFOM, Visiting Research Fellow MBI, Shivashankar Group
Olivier Hamant
Prof Olivier Hamant from INRA will be visiting MBI from 4 Dec 2018 – 3 June 2019.
MBI’s 10th Anniversary Conference Post-Event Report
Mechanobiology Institute’s 10th Anniversary Conference was recently held at the National University of Singapore. Titled ‘Mechanobiology After 10 Years: The Promise of Mechanomedicine’, the four-day conference was an intellectual feast, bringing together pioneering scientists with young researchers and students to engage in fruitful discussions under the increasingly diverse umbrella of mechanobiology.
MBI PI Lim Chwee Teck named one of NUS’ highly cited researchers for 2018
For the fifth year in a row, researchers at NUS have been crowned as some of the most influential in the world. MBI Principal Investigator Lim Chwee Teck is one of those honored in 2018.
Igor Pivkin
Prof Igor V Pivkin of Università Della Svizzera Italiana will be visiting MBI till February 2019.
Veena Venugopal
Research Assistant, Saunders Group
Eugene Seow Qun Zhou
Alumni, Low Group
Protected: MBI 10th Anniversary Abstract Book
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MBI Women in Science welcomes Jane Clarke, Professor of Molecular Biophysics and President of Wolfson College
Jane Clarke is a distinguished biophysical chemist recognised internationally for her multidisciplinary work advancing the understanding of protein folding and misfolding. Prof Clarke will be visiting MBI on December 5th, 2018, to give a seminar on her research and career.
Ronen Zaidel-Bar
Prof Ronen Zaidel-Bar of the Tel-Aviv University, Israel will be visiting MBI from 6-12 November, 2018.
The mechanics of cancer growth
How cancer cells spread in response to physical cues from their surroundings
Kyle David Buchan
Alumni, Kenney Group
