Jonathan N. Pruneda, Ph.D.
Oregon Health & Science University
Jonathan N. Pruneda, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the department of molecular microbiology and immunology at Oregon Health & Science University. He received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Washington, after performing his thesis work on the enzymatic transfer of ubiquitin with Dr. Rachel Klevit.
For his postdoctoral work, he procured an EMBO Long-Term Postdoctoral Fellowship and joined the laboratory of Dr. David Komander at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK. His postdoctoral work focused on how pathogenic bacteria manipulate host ubiquitin signaling responses through the action of secreted deubiquitinating enzymes. This work highlighted an apparent evolutionary pressure that has led to the convergent evolution of ubiquitin-modifying enzymes in pathogenic bacteria, and inspired his current line of research.
Since his arrival at OHSU in late 2018, Pruneda’s research interests have surrounded the many mechanisms that bacteria have evolved to hijack host ubiquitin signaling, including deubiquitinases that reverse ubiquitin signaling, as well as enzymes that write new signals. Using biochemistry, structural biology, and infection models, Pruneda’s research is expanding our appreciation for how the manipulation of ubiquitin contributes to bacterial virulence, while simultaneously unlocking new strategies for defining roles played by ubiquitin signaling at the host-pathogen interface.
For his postdoctoral work, he procured an EMBO Long-Term Postdoctoral Fellowship and joined the laboratory of Dr. David Komander at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK. His postdoctoral work focused on how pathogenic bacteria manipulate host ubiquitin signaling responses through the action of secreted deubiquitinating enzymes. This work highlighted an apparent evolutionary pressure that has led to the convergent evolution of ubiquitin-modifying enzymes in pathogenic bacteria, and inspired his current line of research.
Since his arrival at OHSU in late 2018, Pruneda’s research interests have surrounded the many mechanisms that bacteria have evolved to hijack host ubiquitin signaling, including deubiquitinases that reverse ubiquitin signaling, as well as enzymes that write new signals. Using biochemistry, structural biology, and infection models, Pruneda’s research is expanding our appreciation for how the manipulation of ubiquitin contributes to bacterial virulence, while simultaneously unlocking new strategies for defining roles played by ubiquitin signaling at the host-pathogen interface.