Are You a Faculty Member?
If you are a faculty member and would like to make a change to your faculty profile, please login to Profile+ with your UT Southwestern Id and password. Questions? Please email Web Services at webservices@utsouthwestern.edu.
Neal Alto, PhD
Endowed Title: Rita C. and William P. Clements Jr. Scholar in Medical Research 2007-2011
Molecular Microbiology
Contact Information
UT Southwestern Medical Center
5323 Harry Hines Boulevard
Dallas, Texas 75390
Office Phone: 214-633-1373
Office Fax: 214-648-5905
Biography
Neal Alto earned his PhD in Cell and Developmental Biology from the Oregon Health and Sciences University in 2003. He was then appointed as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of California San Diego. In 2007, he became an assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology at UT Southwestern.
The Alto laboratory is interested in the cross species communication between bacterial pathogens and human signal transduction systems. Many bacteria mediate infectious disease by changing the biochemical events in the host cell interior. In once common scenario, bacteria inject virulence factors directly into a particular host cell compartment. These “effectors,” as they are commonly known, will chemically modify or directly mimic host-signaling enzymes such as kinases, phosphatases, or GTPases.
The changes in host cellular environment elicited by each bacterial effector protein are what alter the host physiology leading to severe infectious disease. Dr. Alto and his associates use recombinant DNA techniques, protein chemistry, model genetic systems to study the actions of bacterial virulence factors.
Education
| Graduate School | Oregon Health Science University, Cell Biology (2003) |
| Undergraduate | Western Washington University, Cell Biology (1996) |
Research Interests
Publications
Alto NM et al. , The Journal of Cell Biology , September 2007; (24;178(7)):1265-78
Westphal RS, Tavalin SJ, Lin JW, Alto NM, Fraser ID, Langeberg LK, Sheng M, Scott JD , Science , July 1999; (285(5424)):93-6
Alto NM, Shao F, Lazar CS, Brost RL, Chua G, Mattoo S, McMahon SA, Ghosh P, Hughes TR, Boone C, Dixon JE , Cell , January 2006; (124):1-13
Selyunin AS, Sutton SE, Weigele BA, Reddick LE, Orchard RC, Bresson SM, Tomchick DR, Alto NM, Nature, 2011 Jan; 469 (7328):107-11
Huang Z, Sutton SE, Wallenfang AJ, Orchard RC, Wu X, Feng Y, Chai J, Alto NM, Nature structural & molecular biology, 2009 Aug; 16 (8):853-60
Ohlson MB, Huang Z, Alto NM, Blanc MP, Dixon JE, Chai J, Miller SI, Cell host & microbe, 2008 Nov; 4 (5):434-46
Orchard RO, Kittisopikul M, Altschuler SJ, Wu LF, Suel GM, and Alto NM, Cell, 2012 Feb (in press);