Associate Professor
Chemistry & Biochemistry
Erin Purcell
CHEMISTRY BUILDING 4501 ELKHORN AVE
NORFOLK, 23517
Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Chicago, (2011)
- Waste Management Facility Operator License, Class III
- Sponsoring Organization: Commonwealth of Virginia
- Date Obtained: 2021-01-01
Contracts, Grants and Sponsored Research
- Purcell, E., Bayse, C. A. and Cotten, M. "Mechanistic Investigations of Host Defense Metallopeptide Interactions with Bacterial Cell Membranes" $36,000. Federal. July 1, 2019 - June 30, 2022
- Purcell, E. and Muratori, C. "Investigating Cutibacterium acnes inactivation by Nanosecond Pulse Stimulation" $53,435. Private. January 1, 2019 - June 30, 2019
- Courson, D. S. and Purcell, E. "Development and Characterization of CRISPR Derived Mammalian Cell Lines for Host-Pathogen Studies with Clostridium difficile" $10,000. ¹ÏÉñÍø. January 1, 2017 - June 30, 2019
- Purcell, E. "The Role of the Stringent Response in Clostridium difficile Survival and Virulence " $270,000. Federal. July 1, 2015 - June 30, 2019
- Purcell, E. "Characterizing small molecule signaling pathways that mediate Clostridium difficile antibiotic survival." $100,000. Private. -
- Purcell, E. "" $8,300. ¹ÏÉñÍø. -
- Courson, D. S., Purcell, E., Holder, A. and Tse-Dinh, Y. "New antibiotics from ancient sources: The effects of natural products and derivatives from traditional medicine and coordinated to transition metals on Clostridium difficile growth and virulence" $300,000. Federal. -
- Purcell, E. "Clostridium difficile motility in response to reactive oxygen species" $7,000. ¹ÏÉñÍø. May 14, 2018 - July 10, 2018
- Purcell, E. B. "Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientists in Chemistry " $250,000. Private. -
- Purcell, E. B. "Single Cell Analysis of Clostridium difficile Chemotactic Motility and Adhesion to Host Cells" $100,000. Federal. -
- Purcell, E. B. "Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientists in Chemistry " $250,000. Private. -
Expertise
Research Interests
small molecule signaling contributing to virulence and persistence in Clostridium difficile
Articles
- Purcell, E., Siegal-Gaskins, D., Rawling, D. C., Fiebig, A. and Crosson, S. (2007). A photosensory two-component system regulates bacterial cell attachment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 104 (46) , pp. 18241-6.
- Purcell, E., McDonald, C. A., Palfey, B. A. and Crosson, S. (2010). An analysis of the solution structure and signaling mechanism of LovK, a sensor histidine kinase integrating light and redox signals. Biochemistry 49 (31) , pp. 6761-70.
- Purcell, E., McKee, R. W., McBride, S. M., Waters, C. M. and Tamayo, R. (2012). Cyclic diguanylate inversely regulates motility and aggregation in Clostridium difficile. Journal of Bacteriology 194 (13) , pp. 3307-16.
- McKee, R. W., Mangalea, M. R., Purcell, E., Borchardt, E. K. and Tamayo, R. (2013). The second messenger cyclic Di-GMP regulates Clostridium difficile toxin production by controlling expression of sigD. Journal of Bacteriology 195 (22) , pp. 5174-85.
- Bordeleau, E., Purcell, E., Lafontaine, D. A., Fortier, L. C., Tamayo, R. and Burrus, V. (2015). Cyclic di-GMP riboswitch-regulated type IV pili contribute to aggregation of Clostridium difficile. Journal of Bacteriology 197 (5) , pp. 819-32.
- Purcell, E., McKee, R. W., Bordeleau, E., Burrus, V. and Tamayo, R. (2015). Regulation of type IV pili contributes to surface behaviors of historical and epidemic strains of Clostridium difficile. Journal of Bacteriology 198 (3) , pp. 565-77.
- Purcell, E. and Crosson, S. (2008). Photoregulation in prokaryotes. Current Opinion in Microbiology 11 (2) , pp. 168-78.
- Purcell, E. and Tamayo, R. (2016). Cyclic diguanylate signaling in Gram-positive bacteria. FEMS Microbiology Reviews 40 (5) , pp. 753-73.
- Poudel, A., Pokhrel, A., Oludiran, A., Coronado, E. J., Alleyne, K., Gilfus, M. M., Gurung, R. K., Adhikari, S. B. and Purcell, E. (2022). Unique features of alarmone metabolism in Clostridioides difficile. Journal of Bacteriology 204 (4) , pp. e0057521.
- Purcell, E. (2022). Second messenger signaling in Clostridioides difficile. Current Opinions in Microbiology 65 , pp. 138-144.
- Poudel, A., Oludiran, A., Sozer, E. B., Casciola, Purcell, E. and Muratori, C. (2021). Growth in a biofilm sensitizes Cutibacterium acnes to nanosecond pulsed electric fields. Bioelectrics 140 , pp. 107797.
- Pokhrel, Poudel, A., Kory, C. B., Celestine, M. J., Adenrele, O., Rinehold, A. J., Resek, A. M., Mhanna, M. A. and Purcell, E. (2020). The (p)ppGpp Synthetase RSH Mediates Stationary-Phase Onset and Antibiotic Stress Survival in Clostridioides difficile.. Journal of Bacteriology 202 (19) , pp. e00377-20.
- Oludiran, A., Courson, D. S., Stuart, M. D., Radwan, A. R., Poutsma, J. C., Cotten, M. L. and Purcell, E. (2019). How Oxygen Availability Affects the Antimicrobial Efficacy of Host Defense Peptides: Lessons Learned from Studying the Copper-Binding Peptides Piscidins 1 and 3. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 20 (21) , pp. 5289.
- Courson, D. S., Pokhrel, A., Scott, C., Madrill, M., Rinehold, A. J., Tamayo, R., Cheney, R. and Purcell, E. (2019). Single cell analysis of nutrient regulation of Clostridioides (Clostridium) difficile motility.. Anaerobe 59 , pp. 205-211.
- Pokhrel, A., Poudel, A. and Purcell, E. (2018). A Purfication and in vitro Activity Assay for a (p)ppGpp Synthetase from Clostridium difficile. Journal of Visualized Experiments 141 , pp. e585547.
- Purcell, E., McKee, R. W., Courson, D. S., Garrett, E. M., McBride, S. M., Cheney, R. E. and Tamayo, R. (2017). A nutrient-regulated cyclic diguanylate phosphodiesterase controls Clostridium difficile biofilm and toxin production during stationary phase. Infection and Immunity 1885 (9) , pp. 1-17.
- Alexandre, M. T., Purcell, E., van Grondelle, R., Robert, B., Kennis, J. T. and Crosson, S. (2010). Electronic and protein structural dynamics of a photosensory histidine kinase. Biochemistry 49 (23) , pp. 4752-9.
- Key, J., Hefti, M., Purcell, E. and Moffat, K. (2007). Structure of the redox sensor domain of Azotobacter vinelandii NifL at atomic resolution: signaling, dimerization, and mechanism. Biochemistry 46 (12) , pp. 3614-23.
- Rajagopal, S., Key, J. M., Purcell, E., Boerema, D. J. and Moffat, K. (2004). Purification and initial characterization of a putative blue light-regulated phosphodiesterase from Escherichia coli. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology 80 (3) , pp. 542-7.
Book Chapters
- Purcell, E., Boutte, C. C. and Crosson, S. (2008). Two-component signaling systems and cell cycle control in Caulobacter crescentus Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology (pp. 122-30) New York, NY: Springer Publishing.
- Purcell, E. and Tamayo, R. (2013). Identification and characterization of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases Methods in Molecular Biology (pp. 235-43) Clifton, NJ: Humana Press.
Presentations
- (November 4, 2020). Mechanisms of Stress Avoidance and Survivial in Vegetative Clostridioides difficile. Poster 7th International C. difficile Symposium Virtual.
- (October , 2020). Hitting the (magic) spot: Defining the role of (p)ppGpp in Clostridioides difficile stress survival. Poster Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Microbiome Meeting Virtual.
- (June 18, 2020). The Atypical (p)ppGpp Synthetase CdRSH Mediates Clostridioides difficile Antibiotic Survival Poster ASM Microbe Virtual.
- Pokhrel, A., Castro, K. and Purcell, E. (February , 2019). The (p)ppGpp-Mediated Stringent Response Contributes to Antibiotic Tolerance in Vegetative Clostridium difficile. Oral Presentation the Mid-Atlantic Microbial Pathogenesis Meeting Wintergreen, VA.
- Purcell, E. (January 25, 2019). Finding the Signaling Pathways That Allow Antibiotic Resistance in Clostridium difficile. Lecture Molecular Biology and Chemistry Departmental Seminar Newport News, VA.
- Purcell, E. (October 2, 2018). Probing the Molecular Basis of Clostridium difficile Antibiotic Resistance Lecture Frank Reidy Research Center for Bioelectrics Seminar Series Norfolk, VA.
- Purcell, E. (March 23, 2018). Identifying the small signaling molecules that mediate antibiotic tolerance in Clostridium difficile Lecture Institute for Structural Biology, Drug Discovery and Development Spring Seminar Series Richmond, VA.
- Purcell, E., McKee, R. W., Bordeleau, E., Burrus, V. and Tamayo, R. (January , 2015). Regulation of type IV pili contributes to surface behaviors of historical and epidemic strains of Clostridium difficile. Paper the Mid-Atlantic Microbial Pathogenesis Meeting Wintergreen, VA.
- Purcell, E., McKee, R. W., Courson, D. S., Garrett, E. M., McBride, S. M., Cheney, R. E. and Tamayo, R. (May , 2013). A nutrient-regulated cyclic diguanylate phosphodiesterase controls Clostridium difficile biofilm and toxin production during stationary phase. Paper the American Society for Microbiology General Meeting Denver, CO.
- 2013: UNC Microbiology & Immunology Postdoctoral Research Symposium. Best talk award,
- 2012: UNC Center for Gastroenterology and Disease Poster Contest. First prize,
- 2010: University of Chicago Biological Sciences Divisional Travel Award,
- 2003: Johns Hopkins University Departmental Honors in Biophysics,
- 2002: Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Beta Kappa