Membrane Transport in Living Systems

Pagliara Group

Tweets by @PagliaraExeter

Research Overview

Our research is focused on understanding how microbial cells interact with their environment both as a community and as individual cells with an emphasis of membrane transporter regulation. Besides standard microbiology techniques and omics approaches, we develop bespoke microfluidic devices that enable to accurately control the microenvironment surrounding the cells and perform a series of functional assays on the very same individual cell. This allows us to shed light on the physiology of rare subpopulations of cells that are generally hidden in ensemble measurements on clonal populations. We apply the technology we develop for collaborative studies on antimicrobial resistance, bacterial physiology, ageing in unicellular organisms and stem cell differentiation.

Recent publications

1. T. Dimitriu, E. Kurilovich, U. Łapińska, K. Severinov, S. Pagliara, M. Szczelkun, E. Westra
   

   Bacteriostatic antibiotics promote CRISPR-Cas adaptive immunity by enabling increased spacer acquisition

   Cell Host and Microbe 30, 31 (2022) [Link][PDF]
   
2. R. Conners, M. McLaren, U. Łapińska, K. Sanders, M. Stone, M. Blaskovich, S. Pagliara, B. Daum, J. Rakonjac, V. Gold
   

   CryoEM structure of the outer membrane secretin channel pIV from the f1 filamentous bacteriophage

   Nature Communications 12, 6316 (2021) [Link][PDF]
   
3. E. Attrill, R. Claydon, U. Łapińska, M. Recker, S. Meaden, A. Brown, E. Westra, S. Harding, S. Pagliara
   

   Individual bacteria in structured environments rely on phenotypic resistance to phage

   PLoS Biology 19, e3001406 (2021) [Link][PDF]
   
4. O. Goode, A. Smith, A. Zarkan, J. Cama, B. M. Invergo, D. Belgami, S. Cano-Muniz, J. Metz, P. O’Neill, A. Jeffries, I. H. Norville, J. David, D. Summers, S. Pagliara
   

   Persister Escherichia coli Cells Have a Lower Intracellular pH than Susceptible Cells but Maintain Their pH in Response to Antibiotic Treatment

   mBio 12, e00909 (2021) [Link][PDF]
   
5. O. Goode, A. Smith, U. Łapińska,, R. Bamford, Z. Kahveci, G. Glover, E. L. Attrill, A. Carr, J. Metz, S. Pagliara
   

   Heterologous Protein Expression Favors the Formation of Protein Aggregates in Persister and Viable but Nonculturable Bacteria

   ACS Infectious Diseases 7, 1848 (2021) [Link][PDF]
   
6. K. Hammond, F. Cipcigan, K. Al Nahas, V. Losasso, H. Lewis, J. Cama, F. Martelli, P. W. Simcock, M. Fletcher, J. Ravi, P. J. Stansfeld, S. Pagliara, B. W. Hoogenboom, U. F. Keyser, M. S. P. Sansom, J. Crain, M. G. Ryadnov
   

   Switching Cytolytic Nanopores into Antimicrobial Fractal Ruptures by a Single Side Chain Mutation

   ACS Nano 15, 9679 (2021) [Link][PDF]