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Department
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Infectious Diseases
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Hospital Title
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Associate in Medicine
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Academic Title
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Associate Professor of Pediatrics
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Phone
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617-919-2900
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Fax
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617-730-0254
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Email
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Robert Husson
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Location
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300 Longwood Avenue
Enders-7
Boston MA 02115
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Robert Husson is interested in understanding the molecular pathogenesis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, particularly the means by which the bacterium adapts to its host. Understanding the means by which the bacterium adapts to the host can identify novel anti-bacterial targets for the design of new therapeutics. The Husson laboratory has focused on two aspects of microbial adaptation:- One is the regulation of transcription in M. tuberculosis. They have characterized several sigma factors of M. tuberculosis, including SigE and SigH, that are important in the response to oxidative and other stresses. Their ongoing work indicates that these regulators are important in the response to starvation and other challenges that are likely to be encountered during infection.
- The second area of Dr. Husson's research focuses on signal transduction pathways of M. tuberculosis. In addition to the typical bacterial two-component signal transduction systems, the bacterium has genes encoding 11 eukaryotic-like serine/ threonine kinases. The researchers are investigating two of these kinases, which are essential and appear to regulate cell division. They are currently seeking to identify the in vivo targets of these kinases, the signals that activate them, and to determine the function of these molecules in M. tuberculosis physiology. The next step is to screen for direct and indirect inhibitors of kinase function.
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Robert Husson received his MD from Harvard Medical School. He completed an internship, residency, and fellowship at Children's Hospital Boston. He undertook research training at Whitehead Institute and the National Institutes of Health.
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- Raman S, Hazra R, Dascher CC, Husson RN. Transcription regulation by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis alternative sigma factor SigD and its role in virulence. Journal of Bacteriology 2004; 189: 6605-6616.
- Raman S, Song T, Puyang X, Bardarov S, Jacobs Jr. WR, Husson RN. The alternative sigma factor SigH regulates major components of the oxidative and heat stress responses in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Journal of Bacteriology 2001; 183: 6119-6125.
- Song T, Dove SL, Lee KH, Husson, RN. RshA, an anti-sigma factor that regulates the activity of the mycobacterial stress response sigma factor SigH. Molecular Microbiology 2003;50:949-959.
- Kang C-M, Abbott DW, Park ST, Dascher CC, Cantley LC, Husson RN. The Mycobacterium tuberculosis serine/threonine kinases PknA and PknB: substrate identification and regulation of cell shape. Genes Dev 2005; 19: 1692-1704.
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