Biography

My research program is focused on the cell biology of intoxication with AB-type protein toxins such as cholera toxin, pertussis toxin, and cytolethal distending toxin. These toxins are originally present in the extracellular milieu, but they attack targets within the cytosol or nucleus of the host cell. The toxins must therefore cross a membrane barrier in order to function. A long-term goal of my laboratory is to elucidate the cellular events that allow toxin translocation, or entry, into the cytosol of a host cell. If this process is understood at the molecular level, then rational therapies can be devised to block the translocation event. This would protect both the cell and the patient from the effects of a toxin-mediated disease.

Our studies on host-toxin interactions have identified a novel property of protein disulfide isomerase that allows it to break apart multimeric protein toxins. We have found that this “disaggregase” activity can also dissolve and detoxify neurotoxic aggregates of amyloid-forming proteins, which has become a recent focus of study in the lab.

Recent Publications

1. Zabala-Rodriguez MC, Teter K, and Tatulian SA. 2025. Amyloid β fragments that suppress oligomers but not fibrils are cytoprotective. Arch Biochem Biophys 768:110386. 

2. Mojica N, Kersten F, Montserrat-Canals M, Huhn III GR, Tislevoll AM, Cordara G, Teter K, and Krengel U. 2024. Using Vibrio natriegens for High-Yield Production of Challenging Expression Targets and for Protein Perdeuteration. Biochemistry 63(5):587-598.

3. Guyette JL, Serrano A, Huhn III GR, Taylor M, Malkòm P, Curtis D, and Teter K. 2023. Reduction is Sufficient for the Disassembly of Ricin and Shiga Toxin 1 but not Escherichia coli Heat-labile Enterotoxin. Infect Immun 91(11):e0033223.

4. Bader C, Taylor M, Banerjee T, and Teter K. 2023. The cytopathic activity of cholera toxin requires a threshold quantity of cytosolic toxin. Cell Signal 101:110520

5. Huhn III GR, Sparkes C, Silva I, Reyes C, Perez G, Khondker F, Jones T, Fragoso A, Contreras P, Alvarez M, Zabala-Rodriguez MC, Tatulian SA, and Teter K. 2022. Acid-induced disassembly of the Haemophilus ducreyi cytolethal distending toxin. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 636(Pt 1):57-63

6. White C, Bader C, and Teter K. 2022. The manipulation of cell signaling and host cell biology by cholera toxin. Cell Signal 100:110489

7. *Serrano A, *Guyette JL, Heim JB, Taylor M, Cherubin P, Krengel U, Teter K, and Tatulian SA. 2022. Holotoxin disassembly by protein disulfide isomerase is less efficient for Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin than cholera toxin. Sci Rep 12:34. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-03939-9

8. Kellner A, Cherubin P, Harper JK, and Teter K. 2021. Proline Isomerization as a Key Determinant for Hsp90-Toxin Interactions. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 11:771653. doi:10.3389/fcimb.2021.771653

9. *Huhn GR, *Torres-Mangual N, Clore J, Cilenti L, Frisan T, and Teter K. 2021. Endocytosis of the CdtA Subunit from the Haemophilus ducreyi Cytolethal Distending Toxin. Cell Micro 23(11):e13380. doi:10.1111/cmi.13380.

10. Banerjee T, Grabon A, Taylor M, and Teter K. 2021. cAMP-Independent Activation of the Unfolded Protein Response by Cholera Toxin. Infect Immun 89(2):e0047-20

11. Serrano A, Qiao X, Matos, J, Farley L, Cilenti, L, Chen B, Tatulian SA, and Teter K. 2020. Reversal of Alpha-Synuclein Fibrillization by Protein Disulfide Isomerase. Front Cell Dev Biol 8:726. doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2020.00726.

12. Burress H, Kellner A, Guyette J, Tatulian SA, and Teter K. 2019. HSC70 and HSP90 Chaperones Perform Complementary Roles in Translocation of the Cholera Toxin A1 Subunit from the Endoplasmic Reticulum to the Cytosol. J Biol Chem 294(32):12122-12131

13. Kellner A, Taylor M, Banerjee T, Britt CBT, and Teter K. 2019. A Binding Motif for Hsp90 in the A Chains of ADP-ribosylating Toxins that Move from the Endoplasmic Reticulum to the Cytosol. Cell Micro 21(10):e13074

14. Teter K. 2019. Intracellular Trafficking and Translocation of Pertussis Toxin. Toxins 11(8). pii: E437

15. Guyette J, Cherubin P, Serrano A, Taylor M, Abedin F, O’Donnell M, Burress H, Tatulian SA, and Teter K. 2019. Quercetin-3-Rutinoside Blocks the Disassembly of Cholera Toxin by Protein Disulfide Isomerase. Toxins 11(8). pii: E458

16. Guyette J, Evangelista B, Tatulian SA, and Teter K. 2019. Stability and Conformational Resilience of Protein Disulfide Isomerase. Biochemistry 58(34):3572-3584

17. Cherubin P, Fidler D, Quiñones B, and Teter K. 2019. Bimodal Response to Stx2 Subtypes Results from Relatively Weak Binding to the Target Cell. Infect Immun 87(12). pii: e00428-19

Note: Student co-authors under my supervision are highlighted in red (graduate student), blue (UCF undergraduate), or pink (medical student). * indicates co-first authors

Recent Teaching Publications

1. Biazzo IN, Fedorka KM, Schneider KR, and Teter K. 2024. Building Research Communities for Life Science Transfer Students: Improving Retention and Student Outcomes. Journal of College Science Teaching. 53(5):420–429.

2. Teter K. 2023. Science Communication from a Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education. 51(4):370-376.