Microbiology Graduate Program
Email: brianna-steiert@uiowa.edu
Lab: Mary Weber, PhD
Year Entered Into Program: 2019
Research Statement
Chlamydia trachomatis (C.t.) is the cause of the most common sexually transmitted bacterial infection and the leading cause of preventable blindness worldwide. Females with a past or current C.t. infection are at higher risk for developing cervical and ovarian cancer. C.t. infection correlates with degradation of mitotic cyclins, blockage of cytokinesis, centrosome supernumerary, and multipolar spindles; suggesting C.t. may dysregulate the host cell cycle, resulting in cellular transformation. As an obligate intracellular pathogen, its ability to establish a niche within the host is extremely pertinent to its survival. C.t. delivers over 70 effector proteins via its type 3 secretion system into the host cell. Some of these effectors have been shown to facilitate host cell invasion, promote establishment of its intracellular niche, and facilitate subversion of host defenses. The function of most of these putative virulence factors remains unknown. I am interested in how C.t. secreted effectors induce aberrant cell cycle progression and whether these events lead to cellular transformation.
Education
B.A. in Molecular Biology, William Jewell College (2014-2018)
Publications
Andersen SE, Bulman LM, Steiert B, Faris R, Weber MM. Got mutants? How advances in chlamydial genetics have furthered the study of effector proteins. Pathog Dis. 2021 Feb 4;79(2):ftaa078. doi: 10.1093/femspd/ftaa078. PMID: 33512479; PMCID: PMC7862739.
Yue M, Yang J, Jin M, Steiert B, Xiang Y, Zhang H, Hagenbuch B, Gui C. Gly45 and Phe555 in Transmembrane Domains 1 and 10 Are Critical for the Activation of Organic Anion Transporting Polypeptide 1B3 by Epigallocatechin Gallate. J Agric Food Chem. 2019 Aug 14;67(32):9079-9087. doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.9b03812. Epub 2019 Aug 6. PMID: 31353905; PMCID: PMC6892160.
Awards
Mechanisms of Parasitism T32 Training Grant (2021 – 2022)
Select Presentations
Experimental Biology 2019 Conference poster presentation -“Co-localization of Hepatocellular Uptake Transporters in Detergent Resistant Membranes (Lipid Rafts)”