Jessica Kelliher, PhD

Assistant Professor

Locations

Microbiology & Immunology
BSB B2215 (office)

Contact Information

General Interests

Host-pathogen interactions, cell-autonomous immunity, bacterial pathogenesis, bacterial genetics and physiology, bacterial signal transduction

Education

Postdoctoral Fellowship, Medical Microbiology & Immunology, University of Wisconsin-Madison
PhD, Microbiology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2019

Learn more about the Kelliher Lab

Research Interests

In the Kelliher lab, we are broadly interested in investigating host-pathogen interactions at the molecular level, with the goal of developing better therapeutics for treating bacterial infections. More specifically, we are interested in understanding host and pathogen factors that drive infection outcomes in the mammalian cytosol, a relatively under-studied host-pathogen interface. While some pathogens have evolved to reach and replicate in the cytosol, non-adapted microbes are killed through largely unknown cell-autonomous defenses. We investigate both the cytosolic defenses that target microbes in this environment, as well as the adaptations that professional cytosolic pathogens possess that enable them to survive and thrive in this restrictive niche.

PASTA kinase-dependent control of peptidoglycan synthesis via ReoM is required for cell wall stress responses, cytosolic survival, and virulence in Listeria monocytogenes.

(Kelliher JL, Grunenwald CM, Abrahams RR, Daanen ME, Lew CI, Rose WE, Sauer JD.) PLoS Pathog. 2021 Oct;17(10):e1009881 PMID: 34624065 PMCID: PMC8528326 10/09/2021
Staphylococcus aureus Preferentially Liberates Inorganic Phosphate from Organophosphates in Environments where This Nutrient Is Limiting.

(Kelliher JL, Leder Macek AJ, Grudzinski KM, Radin JN, Kehl-Fie TE.) J Bacteriol. 2020 Oct 22;202(22) PMID: 32868400 PMCID: PMC7585055 09/02/2020
Disruption of Phosphate Homeostasis Sensitizes Staphylococcus aureus to Nutritional Immunity.

(Kelliher JL, Brazel EB, Radin JN, Joya ES, Párraga Solórzano PK, Neville SL, McDevitt CA, Kehl-Fie TE.) Infect Immun. 2020 May 20;88(6) PMID: 32205403 PMCID: PMC7240092 03/25/2020
Metal-independent variants of phosphoglycerate mutase promote resistance to nutritional immunity and retention of glycolysis during infection.

(Radin JN, Kelliher JL, Solórzano PKP, Grim KP, Ramezanifard R, Slauch JM, Kehl-Fie TE.) PLoS Pathog. 2019 Jul;15(7):e1007971 PMID: 31344131 PMCID: PMC6684088 07/26/2019
PhoPR Contributes to Staphylococcus aureus Growth during Phosphate Starvation and Pathogenesis in an Environment-Specific Manner.

(Kelliher JL, Radin JN, Kehl-Fie TE.) Infect Immun. 2018 Oct;86(10) PMID: 30061377 PMCID: PMC6204748 08/01/2018
Acquisition of the Phosphate Transporter NptA Enhances Staphylococcus aureus Pathogenesis by Improving Phosphate Uptake in Divergent Environments.

(Kelliher JL, Radin JN, Grim KP, Párraga Solórzano PK, Degnan PH, Kehl-Fie TE.) Infect Immun. 2018 Jan;86(1) PMID: 29084897 PMCID: PMC5736819 11/01/2017
The Metallophore Staphylopine Enables Staphylococcus aureus To Compete with the Host for Zinc and Overcome Nutritional Immunity.

(Grim KP, San Francisco B, Radin JN, Brazel EB, Kelliher JL, Párraga Solórzano PK, Kim PC, McDevitt CA, Kehl-Fie TE.) mBio. 2017 Oct 31;8(5) PMID: 29089427 PMCID: PMC5666155 11/02/2017
The Two-Component System ArlRS and Alterations in Metabolism Enable Staphylococcus aureus to Resist Calprotectin-Induced Manganese Starvation.

(Radin JN, Kelliher JL, Párraga Solórzano PK, Kehl-Fie TE.) PLoS Pathog. 2016 Nov;12(11):e1006040 PMID: 27902777 PMCID: PMC5130280 12/03/2016
Competition for Manganese at the Host-Pathogen Interface.

(Kelliher JL, Kehl-Fie TE.) Prog Mol Biol Transl Sci. 2016;142:1-25 PMID: 27571690 08/31/2016