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Marie-Alda Gilles-Gonzalez, PhD
Molecular Microbiology
Contact Information
UT Southwestern Medical Center
5323 Harry Hines Boulevard
Dallas, Texas 75390
Office Phone: 214-648-3338
Office Fax: 214-648-8856
Biography
Dr. Gilles-Gonzalez obtained her BS in biochemistry from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She studied for her PhD under Dr. Gobind Khorana at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she examined structure-function relationships in the proton-pumping membrane protein bacteriorhodopsin. During postdoctoral research with Dr. Donald Helinski at UC San Diego, she discovered that the FixL protein contains heme and identified this protein as the first known direct sensor of molecular oxygen. Since then she has devoted her research to understanding the mechanisms by which living organisms respond to oxygen and other physiological gases. FixL is an enzyme (a protein histidine kinase) whose activity is controlled by a regulatory heme on the same molecule.
During postdoctoral research with Dr. Max Perutz at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK, she began to elucidate the mechanism by which the FixL protein responds to oxygen. In her own laboratory, she and her colleagues discovered that FixL belongs to a much broader family of sensors, only some of which are protein histidine kinases. Other members of this family include diguanylate cyclases, c-di-GMP phosphodiesterases, and transcription factors. Their research has expanded to examine oxygen sensors that span all three major kingdoms of life and govern important adaptations to fluctuating levels of this gas. These include sensors that control dormancy and biofilm formation by pathogenic bacteria.
Education
| Graduate School | Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Biochemistry (1988) |
| Undergraduate | New York University, Biochemistry (1980) |
Research Interests
Publications
M. A. Gilles-Gonzalez and G. Gonzalez , J. Inorg. Biochem. , 2005; (99):1-22
C. M. Dunham, E. M. Dioum, J. R. Tuckerman, G. Gonzalez, W. G. Scott, and M. A. Gilles-Gonzalez , Biochemistry , 2003; (42):7701-7708
G. Gonzalez, E. M. Dioum, C. M. Bertolucci, T. Tomita, M. Ikeda-Saito, M. R. Cheesman, N. J. Watmough, and M. A. Gilles-Gonzalez , Biochemistry , 2002; (41):8414-8421
J. R. Tuckerman, G. Gonzalez, and M. A. Gilles-Gonzalez , J. Mol. Biol. , 2001; (308):449-455
Delgado-Nixon, V.M., Gonzalez, G., and Gilles-Gonzalez, M.A. , Biochemistry , 2000; (39):2685-2691
J. R. Tuckerman, G. Gonzalez, E. H. S. Sousa, X. Wan, J. A. Saito, M. Alam, and M. A. Gilles-Gonzalez , Biochemistry , 2009; (In press)
X. Wan, J. R. Tuckerman, J. A. Saito, T. A. K. Freitas, J. S. Newhouse, J. R. Denery , M. Y. Galperin, G. Gonzalez, M. A. Gilles-Gonzalez, and M. Alam , J. Mol. Biol. , 2009; (388):262-270
M. A. Gilles-Gonzalez, G. Gonzalez, E. H. S. Sousa, and J. R. Tuckerman , Meth. Enzymol. , 2008; (437):173-189
E. H. S. Sousa, J. R. Tuckerman, G. Gonzalez, and M. A. Gilles-Gonzalez , Protein Science , 2007; (16):1708-1709
E. H. S. Sousa, J. R. Tuckerman, G. Gonzalez, and M. A. Gilles-Gonzalez , Biochemistry , 2007; (46):6249-6257
Related Links
Honors/Awards
Women Pioneers in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Fields (2007)
Max F. Perutz Designate (1991)
Postdoctoral Fellowship (1988)
National Research Service Award (1982)
Undergraduate Summer Research Opportunity Award (1978)