Linda J KENNEY
Alumni, Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore
How is stress fiber assembly regulated?
How is stress fiber assembly regulated? Tension-dependent actin polymerization and assembly of stress fibers is influenced by many factors (reviewed in [1][2]), including differences in substrate composition [3], rigidity [4][5][6] (reviewed in [7]), cell [...]
What is axon guidance and the growth cone?
What is axon guidance and the growth cone? Axon guidance is an important step in neural development. It allows growing axons to reach specific destinations and ultimately form the complex neuronal networks throughout the [...]
What are Motor Proteins?
What are Motor Proteins? Motor proteins, such as myosins and kinesins, move along cytoskeletal filaments via a force-dependent mechanism that is driven by the hydrolysis of ATP molecules (reviewed in [1]). Nucleotide hydrolysis and [...]
How do motor proteins transport cargo along the cytoskeleton?
How do motor proteins transport cargo along the cytoskeleton? Along with providing structural support to the cell, and transmitting force signals, cytoskeletal filaments also provide cells with a network of ‘tracks’ that can be [...]
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
Shang Yuqing
Alumni, Shivashankar Group
temp
fooooo Register fooooo
Microscopic Muscles
How non-muscle cells find the strength to move
Illuminating the Contacts
Using superresolution imagining to map adherens junction machinery
Assoc Prof Evelyn Yim visiting from the University of Waterloo
Assoc Prof Evelyn Yim is visiting from the Chemical Engineering Department from the University of Waterloo, 18-28 February, 2017
MBI PI Lim Chwee Teck honoured with appointment to AIMBE
Prof Lim elected to American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows
Letting Go
How dying cells detach from their neighbors
Cellular Podiatry
Understanding how cells form feet
Shinjini Ray
PhD Student, Class of August 2016, Toyama Group, Zaidel-Bar Group
MBInsights Annual 2016
MBInsights Home Science Features News Awards Outreach Events MBInsights Annual MBInsights Annual 2016 Edition MBI Science Communications | OCT 2016 An annual summary of research at [...]
Stability Without Junctions
Cadherin prevents cortical deformation
Yunfeng Gao
Alumni, Research Associate, Yan Jie Group
