Studying the secretion mechanisms of virulence proteins produced by Gram-negative bacteria

Pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria produce virulence proteins and deliver them to their cell surface to establish and sustain infections in humans. Because these virulence proteins have unique structures not found in humans, they are viewed as potential drug targets. Thus, understanding how Gram-negative bacteria deliver virulence proteins to the cell surface could lead to the development of novel antibiotics that selectively target these virulence proteins.  However, how exactly bacteria deliver virulence proteins to the cell surface remains unclear. The Clark lab strives to better understand the mechanisms that bacteria use to successfully deliver virulence proteins to the cell surface. For this project, the undergraduate researcher will work under the guidance of a graduate student to help identify and characterize features within the virulence proteins that potentially facilitate their delivery to the bacterial cell surface. The undergraduate researcher will learn important research skills, and biophysical and biochemical techniques, which they can use to design and conduct any additional undergraduate thesis research if required by their program.