Susan Straley, Ph.D.

Professor

Selected publications

Research statement: Sue Straley's lab studies the plague bacterium Yersinia pestis. Plague is highly acute disease, killing animals before they mount an effective immune response. One way the bacteria achieve this is by delivering a set of toxins called Yops into host cells. Contact between Y. pestis and a mammalian cell activates a delivery mechanism that injects virulence proteins called Yops into the cell. The proteins manipulate cellular signaling mechanisms and cause a profound immunosuppression. Dr. Straley's lab is studying the regulation of Yop expression and mechanism of Yop delivery.

In collaboration with Drs. Kaplan and Cohen, Dr. Straley's lab also is identifying the molecular targets in host cells for one of the Yops, YopM. They have found that YopM causes depletion of NK cells, which are key cells for activation of macrophages to heightened microbicidal activity. The question now is, how does YopM do this? This study is revealing key steps that are crucial to the development of devastating disease and thus will identify possible ways to prevent and treat plague.

Dr. Straley's lab has begun a new project to identify surface proteins that are expressed by the yersiniae during pneumonic plague. This study will identify new candidates for an improved plague vaccine .