Professor of Pediatrics
Professor of Microbiology
Bacterial Pathogenesis and Genomics.
Research Summary:
Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) is a predominant etiologic agent of otitis media in children as well as a major cause of pneumonia and other respiratory tract diseases in adults.
Type IV pili (Tfp) play a significant role in the pathogenesis of disease caused by numerous Gram-negative pathogens. In collaboration with the Bakaletz lab, we have demonstrated that Tfp-deficient mutants of NTHi adhere less well to epithelial cells and that antibody directed against recombinant pilin, the major subunit of Tfp, has protective activity in the chinchilla model of otitis media. Our long-range goal is to determine the structure and function of the individual proteins required for Tfp biogenesis and determine the structure of the macromolecular complex.
Regulation of expression of NTHi virulence determinants is poorly understood. We are working to understand the regulation of expression of genes encoding proteins involved in oxidative stress responses and iron/heme metabolism. We are particularly interested in the role of small non-translated RNAs in this regulatory network.
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Tracy E, Ye F, Baker BD, and Munson RS Jr. 2008. Construction of non-polar mutants in Haemophilus influenzae using FLP recombinase technology, BMC Mol Biol. 9:101
Johnston JW, Zaleski A, Allen S, Mootz JM, Armbruster D, Gibson BW, Apicella MA, and Munson RS Jr. 2007. Regulation of sialic acid transport and catabolism in Haemophilus influenzae, Molecular Microbiology 66(1):26-39.
Jurcisek JA, Bookwalter JE, Baker BD, Fernandez S, Novotny LA, Munson RS Jr., and Bakaletz LO. 2007. The PilA protein of non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae plays a role in biofilm formation, adherence to epithelial cells and colonization of the mammalian upper respiratory tract”, Molecular Microbiology 65(5):1288-99.
Harrison A, Ray WC, Baker BD, Armbruster DW, Bakaletz LO, and Munson RS Jr. 2007. The OxyR regulon in nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae, J Bacteriol 189(3):1004-12.
Bakaletz LO, Baker BD, Jurcisek JA, Harrison A, Novotny LA, Bookwalter JE, Mungur R and Munson RS Jr. 2005. Demonstration of type IV pilus expression and a twitching phenotype by Haemophilus influenzae, Infect Immun 73(3): 1635-43.
Harrison A, Dyer DW, Gillaspy A, Ray WC, Mungur R, Carson MB, Zhong H, Gipson J, Gipson M, Johnson LS, Lewis L, Bakaletz LO and Munson RS Jr. 2005. Genomic sequence of an otitis media isolate of nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae: Comparative study with H. influenzae serotype d, strain KW20, J Bacteriol 187(13): 4627-36.
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