Chia Lee

Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology

Research Interest:  Pathogenesis of Staphylococcus aureus

Ph.D .: Kansas State University

Postdoctoral:  Kansas State University

Phone: (501) 526-7687
Fax: (501) 686-5359 

Research Description

The long-term goal of this laboratory is to better understand the molecular mechanisms of staphylococcal pathogenesis. Staphylococci are a group of bacteria most commonly causing nosocomial infections, many of which are life-threatening. The pathgenicity of staphylococci depends on the ability of the bacteria to produce various virulence factors. These bacteria are also excellent in adapting to their environments. As a result, the emergence of antibiotic resistance strains in response to antibiotic usage has caused serious problems for controlling staphylococcal infections. Among all staphylococci, S. aureus is the most virulent species. This organism is capable of producing a plethora of virulence factors reflecting its ability to cause a wide range of human and animal diseases ranging from superficial skin infections to debilitating systemic infections. These virulence factors have been shown to be highly regulated by a complex regulatory network. In our laboratory, we have specifically focused our research efforts on understanding the regulation of virulence factors to delineate the mechanisms of pathogenesis. We have taken two different approaches for this goal. One approach is to use capsule as our model system to identify genes involved in capsule gene regulation. We have successfully identified several regulators and are currently characterizing these genes with respect to their regulatory functions and interactions. The other approach is to focus a recently identified global regulator, mgr , which controls many virulence factors. We are currently analyzing this locus in details and studying its interaction with other global regulators to unravel its role in the regulatory circuit controlling the expression of virulence genes. In addition, we have also initiated a study to understand how biofilm is controlled in staphylococci. The ability to form Biofilm has been shown to be crucial for staphylococci to cause device-related infections and other diseases such as osteomyelitis and endocarditis. We have recently characterized a regulator, rbf , involved in biofilm regulation in S. aureus . Detailed characterization of this locus is in progress in our laboratory.

References

T. Luong , S. Sau, M. Gomez, J. C. Lee and C. Y. Lee. 2002. Regulation of Staphylococcus aureus capsular polysaccharide expression by agr and sarA. Infect Immun. 70:444-450.

T. T. Luong, S. Ouyang, K. Bush, C. Y. Lee. 2002. Type 1 capsule genes of Staphylococcus aureus are carried in a staphylococcal cassette chromosome genetic element. J Bacteriol. 184:3623-9.27.

T. T. Luong and C. Y. Lee. 2002. Overproduction of type 8 capsular polysaccharide augments Staphylococcus aureus virulence.  Infect Immun. 70:3389-95.

T. T. Luong, S. W. Newell, and C. Y. Lee. 2003. mgr , a novel global regulator in Staphylococcus aurues . J. Bacteriol. 185:3703-3710.

S. Sau, P. Chattoraj, T. Ganguly, C. Y. Lee, and N. C. Mandal. 2004. Cloning and sequencing analysis of the repressor gene of temperate mycobacteriophage L1. J. Biochem. Mol. Biol. 37:254-259.

Y. Lim, J. Jana, T. T. Luong, and C. Y. Lee. 2004. Control of glucose and NaCl-induced biofilm formation by rbf in Staphylococcus aureus. J. Bacteriol. 186:722-729 .

T. Ganguly, P. Chattoraj, M. Das, P. K. Chanda, N. C. Mandal, C. Y. Lee, S. Sau. 2004. A point mutation at the C-terminal half of the repressor of temperate mycobacteriophage L1 affects its binding to the operator DNA. J Biochem Mol Biol. 37:709-714.

S. Ingavale, W. van Wamel, T. T. Luong, C. Y. Lee, A. L. Cheung. 2005. Rat/MgrA, a regulator of autolysis, is a regulator of virulence genes in Staphylococcus aureus . Infect Immun. 73:1423-1431.

T. T. Luong, P. M. Dunman, E. Murphy, S. J. Projan and C. Y. Lee. 2006. Transcription profiling of mgrA regulon in Staphylococcus aureus . J. Bacteriol. 188:1899-1910.

C. Y. Lee and J. C. Lee. 2006. Staphylococcal Capsules. In: Gram-positive pathogens. V. Fischetti, R. P. Novick, J. Ferretti, D. Portnoy, J. Rood (eds). 2 nd Ed. American Society for Microbiology, Washington, DC. pp.361-366.

T. T. Luong, and C. Y. Lee. 2006. The arl locus regulates Staphylococcus aureus type 5 capsule via mgr dependent and independent pathways. Microbiol. 152:3123-3131.

J. E. Cassat, C. Y. Lee and M. S. Smeltzer. 2007. Investigation of Biofilm Formation in Clinical Isolates of Staphylococcus aureus . In: Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) Protocols. Y. Ji (ed). Humana Press Inc., Totowa , NJ . pp. 127-144.

T. T. Luong and C. Y. Lee. 2007. Improved single-copy integration vectors for Staphylococcus aureus. J. Microbiol. Methods. 70:186-190.

M. Das, T. Ganguly, P.Chattoraj, P. K. Chanda, A. Bandhu, C.Y. Lee and S. Sau. 2007. Purification and characterization of repressor of temperate S. aureus phage ?11. J. Biochem. Mol. Biol. in press.

Z. Chen, T. T. Luong, and C. Y. Lee. 2007. The sbcDC locus mediates the repression of type 5 capsule as part of the SOS response in Staphylococcus aureus . J. Bacteriol. In press.

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