Cheung, Nikki
Nikki is in the Biochemistry, Biophysics, & Structural Biology (BBSB) home area of the MBIDP, and joined the CMB Training Program in 2022.
Mentor: Dr. Robert Clubb
Many pathogenic bacteria display long, filamentous protein polymers called pili that function as virulence factors crucial for bacterial adherence to host tissues, cell invasion, biofilm formation, and modulation of host immunity. These pili are often displayed in antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which are responsible for over 2 million illnesses and over $20 billion in healthcare costs annually in the United States. In order to further understand how these pili promote host infection, I will use cell-based assays and structural techniques to investigate the proteins involved in pilus assembly.
Using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, I will determine the structure and interaction mechanism of two membrane proteins that facilitate pilus termination and attachment to the cell wall: SrtF and SafA. Additionally, I will investigate key residues that are essential to pilus assembly using fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) as a readout for pilus display in single bacterial cells. Ideally, my work will expand the knowledge of how pathogenic bacteria produce virulent pili and use them for infection.
