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. S. Kraus, M.L. Fletcher, U. Łapińska, K. Chawla, E. Baker, E.L. Attrill, P. O'Neill, A. Farbos, A. Jeffries, E.E. Galyov, S. Korbsrisate, K.B. Barnes, S.V. Harding, K. Tsaneva-Atanasova, M.A.T. Blaskovich, S. Pagliara
   

   Phage-induced efflux down-regulation boosts antibiotic efficacy

   PLoS Pathogens 20, e1012361 (2024)[Link][PDF]
   
2. A. Agapov, K.S. Baker, P. Bedekar, R.P. Bhatia, T.R. Blower, M.A. Brockhurst, C. Brown, C.E. Chong, J.L. Fothergill, S. Graham, J. Hall, A. Maestri, S. McQuarrie, A. Olina, S. Pagliara, M. Recker, A. Richmond, S.J. Shaw, M.D. Szczelkun, T.B. Taylor, S. van Houte, S.C. Went, E.R. Westra, M.F. White, R. Wright
   

   Multi-layered genome defences in bacteria

   Current Opinion in Microbiology 78, 102436 (2024)[Link][PDF]
   
3. E. L. Attrill, U. Łapińska, E. R. Westra, S. V. Harding, S. Pagliara
   

   Slow growing bacteria survive bacteriophage in isolation

   ISME Communications 3, 95 (2023) [Link][PDF]
   
4. U. Łapińska, G. Glover, Z. Kahveci, N. A. T. Irwin, D. S. Milner, M. Tourte, S.-V. Albers, A. E. Santoro, T. A. Richards, S. Pagliara
   

   Systematic comparison of unilamellar vesicles reveals that archaeal core lipid membranes are more permeable than bacterial membranes

   PLoS Biology 21, e3002048 (2023) [Link][PDF]
   
5. B. Zhang, W. Phetsang, M. R. L. Stone, S. Kc, M. S. Butler, M. A. Cooper, A. G. Elliott, U. Łapińska, M. Voliotis, K. Tsaneva-Atanasova, S. Pagliara, M. A. T. Blaskovich
   

   Synthesis of vancomycin fluorescent probes that retain antimicrobial activity, identify Gram-positive bacteria, and detect Gram-negative outer membrane damage

   Communications Biology 6, 409 (2023) [Link][PDF]