Achievement

Trainee Christine Pellino works under the direction of Dr. Alison Weiss in the Department of Molecular Genetics. Her IGERT funding supports her studies concerning bacterial produced Shiga Toxin (Stx). During this reporting period, she has presented her findings at several conferences including the Digestive Health Center Annual Scientific Retreat at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital with her poster: “Shiga Toxin A and B Subunit Assembly into Functional Toxin.” Her work with Stx has revealed a novel means by which the active and binding subunits of Stx can retain activity if introduced in a dissociated form both in vivo and in vitro. Furthermore, studies reveal that assembly may occur on the membrane receptor and that subunit association is likely mediated by C-terminal residues in the active subunit as well as hydrophobic interactions at the subunit interface. She has a manuscript in preparation.