Dr. Barbara E. Murray

Regular Member

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

Medical School
Department of Infectious Diseases

Research Interests:

• Genetics and mechanisms of pathogenicity and of antibiotic resistance in Enterococcus faecalis and E. faecium, important human pathogens

This laboratory's broad interests involve the genetic and biochemical mechanisms of pathogenicity and of resistance to antibiotics, particularly of enterocci (e.g., Enterococcus faecalis and E. faecium). Recent acquisition of new antibiotic resistance traits have led these organisms to be called "super bugs" because of the paucity of any known effective antimicrobials. This laboratory described the first isolate of enterococci producing beta-lactamase, described the first gentamicin resistance transposon in these organisms (a property which has important consequences for therapy of enterococcal endocarditis), and identified the mechanism for the intrinsic resistance of E. faecalis to Synercidâ, an antibiotic approved in 1999 for vancomycin-resistant E. faecium. Work in pathogenicity has also focused on enterococci because they are important causes of endocarditis and hospital-acquired infections. Current work, funding by NIH, involves defining the genetic basis for adherence of enterococci to host tissues such as extracellular matrix proteins, generating isogenic mutants for studies of virulence and pathogenicity, testing antibodies for protective capabilities in different animal models, investigating biofilm formation, and defining the mechanism of resistance of E. faecium to phagocytosis by white blood cells. In the late 1990s, Dr. Murray participated in a collaboration with Dr. George Weinstock and the Department of Energy which resulted in “sequencing in a day” of a strain of Enterococcus faecium, and published the second closed sequence of an E. faecalis strain. Procedures routinely used include genomic sequencing, protein purification, ELISAs, Western blot analysis, cloning, mutagenesis, microarray analyses, RT-PCR, and other molecular biology techniques, as well as extracellular matrix protein adherence assays, biofilm assays, fluorescent microscopy, transcytosis assays, and animal models (urinary tract infections, peritonitis and endocarditis) for evaluation of mutants and for evaluation of immunization efficacy. There are active collaborations between the Division of Infectious Diseases, Microbiology and Molecular Genetics and the Center for Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases-IBT, and shared graduate students with faculty in these areas. Dr. Murray is the Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases and of the Center for the Study of Emerging and Re-Emerging Pathogens. Work in the Center provides a multi-disciplinary approach to the study of bacterial pathogenesis, from clinical issues to details of gene expression and protein function.

Publications

Program Affiliation:

Program in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics