# RNA helicases in bacterial pathogenesis

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA · 2021 · $237,389

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 The ability of bacteria to rapidly sense and respond to changes in the environment is fundamental
to colonization and survival. Post-transcriptional regulation is emerging as an important strategy that
promotes efficient and precise control of bacterial virulence, and thus plays a central role in
pathogenesis. Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 (EHEC) is a bacterial pathogen that
colonizes the human colon and causes severe hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic uremic syndrome
(HUS), which can be fatal. EHEC encodes several important virulence factors, including the potent
Shiga toxin that causes HUS and a type three secretion system (T3SS) and effectors necessary for
attaching and effacing (AE) lesion formation on enterocytes. EHEC has a very low infectious dose,
suggesting that EHEC has evolved mechanisms to spatiotemporally control virulence gene
expression to occur within appropriate host niches. RNA helicases are ubiquitous in all kingdoms of
life, as well as within viral genomes, and are involved in virtually all aspects of RNA metabolism,
including RNA degradation or protection and translation. Our studies underlie the importance of RNA
helicases to EHEC niche adaptation and coordination of virulence gene expression. The proposed
work will investigate the importance of RNA helicases to niche recognition and host-pathogen
interactions using a physiologically relevant infection model. We will also utilize unbiased approaches
to comprehensively map the regulon of an EHEC helicase and identify targets of regulation.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10217792
- **Project number:** 1R21AI154355-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Melissa Kendall
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $237,389
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-03-01 → 2023-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10217792

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10217792, RNA helicases in bacterial pathogenesis (1R21AI154355-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10217792. Licensed CC0.

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