Research Activities

Within Dr Begoña Heras’s group my research focus is on the determination of crystal structures of virulence factors and regulators known to be critical for pathogenesis from a wide range of gram-negative bacterial pathogens.   To achieve this aim I express and purify the proteins of interest, crystallise the proteins and collect data using the Australian Synchrotron.  This data is then solved, built and refined to generate atomic level structures of the proteins.  The resulting protein structures along with using complementary techniques such as circular dichroism spectroscopy and analytical ultracentrifugation are then used to elucidate the functions and mechanisms of action of these proteins. I am currently working on 5 autotransporter (AT) proteins from a range of pathogenic gram-negative bacteria.  ATs constitute the largest family of secreted and outer membrane proteins in gram-negative bacteria.  Notably ATs are important virulence factors through functioning in bacterial adhesion, biofilm formation, invasion and toxicity. Another group of proteins that I work are the Dsb group of disulfide oxidoreductases from gram-negative bacteria.  These enzymes catalyse disulfide bond formation which is required for the activity and or secretion of many virulence factors.