Dr. Bill Self,
Associate Professor
Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, UCF
Host: Cherie Yestrebsky
Bioenergetics of Clostridium Difficile:
Relationships to Pathogenesis and Drug Discovery Potential
Abstract
Selenium is a required micronutrient in mammals and, based on genomics, is likely utilized by approximately one third of microorganisms in nature. Selenium can be present either in the form of L-selenocysteine or in a labile cofactor present in a small group of molybdenum containing flavoproteins in bacteria. The synthesis of these selenium containing cofactors and active site amino acids, as well as a general discussion of the use of selenium in biology will be described. Further, evidence that the use of selenium in the pathogen Clostridium difficile, and the role that two selenoenzymes (glycine reductase and D-proline reductase) play in this organism’s physiology, will be discussed in terms of growth, pathogenesis and the potential for drug discovery research targeting selenoproteins.
Biosketch
Bill Self is an Associate Professor in the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences. He received his B.S. in Microbiology with high honors from the University of Florida in 1993, followed by his Ph.D. in 1998 in which he studied the role of molybdenum in the transcriptional regulation of genes involved in energy metabolism in Escherichia coli under Dr. Keelnatham Shanmugam, an expert in microbial physiology and genetics. He then moved on to the NIH under the guidance of Dr. Thressa C. Stadtman (NAS member) at the NIH in Bethesda, Maryland where he studied anaerobic microbiology and biochemistry of metalloenzymes from clostridia. His primary interests in bacteriology include bioenergetics of anaerobes while thriving in the host. He has published over 60 research articles and this work has been highly cited in recent years (H-index of 35 with over 4800 citations, Google Scholar). He has given 13 invited talks at national/international conferences and Universities in the past 7 years, served as a panel chair twice at international conferences and served on ten NIH study sections and five NSF study sections since 2009. He has been awarded five patents and has three pending. Besides his extensive research and service to the profession, Dr. Self has also been heavily involved in service to UCF, including serving five years as a faculty senator, serving two years as vice chair and now as chair of the faculty senate this year. He and his wife of 22 years, Marianne, also spend quite a bit of time raising their four teenage sons. They especially like spending time outdoors boating, fishing and snorkeling around Ponce Inlet and in the Florida keys.