/sites/default/files/styles/banner_image/public/default_images/inside-page-banner_2_1.jpg?itok=Er8q0C-3
Associate 2001-02

Stanley R Maloy

Microbiology

POSTGENOMIC ANALYSIS OF MEMBRANE PROTEIN EXPRESSION

A major thrust of Professor Maloy’s work has focused on membrane proteins, which mediate many important cellular processes. These processes require that membrane proteins are produced in the proper amounts; overproduction of membrane proteins is often lethal in bacteria, limiting many potential applications in biotechnology. It is not yet known how cells sense the proper ratio of membrane proteins to lipids or how they adapt to changes in this ratio.

Professor Maloy’s lab uses the PutA protein from salmonella to study the regulation of membrane protein synthesis. Essential features of this process have been deciphered by using genetic and biochemical approaches to identify mutants to study the movements of PutA between the cytoplasm and the cell membrane. During his Center appointment, Professor Maloy plans to use a combination of postgenomic approaches to identify additional gene products involved in the regulation of membrane biogenesis. Understanding the regulation of membrane biogenesis will provide insight into an essential aspect of cell growth that may reveal novel targets for new antibiotics, and will facilitate the overproduction of membrane proteins for biotechnology