Graduate Student - Ph.D.

Biochemistry and Biophysics

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, NC)

Matthew R. Redinbo

One Atom Controls Bacterial Walking

Several bacterial pathogens require the "twitching" motility produced by filamentous type IV pili (T4P) to establish and maintain human infections. Two cytoplasmic ATPases function as an oscillatory motor that powers twitching motility via cycles of pilus extension and retraction. The regulation of this motor, however, has remained a mystery. In a collaborative work published in PNAS, members of the Redinbo Group have discovered that a single atom – a calcium, in fact – can control how bacteria walk.

By resolving the structure of a protein involved in the movement of the opportunitistic human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa,the scientists identified a spot on the bacteria, that when blocked, can stop it in its tracks. The finding identifies a key step in the process by which bacteria infect their hosts, and could one day lead to new drug targets to prevent infection.