Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica

Research

We are interested in bacterial cell growth and division that are fundamental to bacterial life. We use genetic and imaging methods to investigate these processes in the cellular context, and the biochemical reconstitution approaches to dissect the underlying mechanisms. The current research topics are introduced below.

(1) Metabolic regulation of cell growth and division    
       Cell morphology, which is determined through the processes of growth and division, is regulated by the metabolic state of a cell. We investigate functional coupling between metabolism and cell growth and division. This is likely inherent in cell physiology to increase the environmental fitness especially under nutrient limitation.

(2) Revisit bacterial cell wall synthesis and remodeling    
       This project aims at exploring complexity of the peptidoglycan (PG)-synthesizing proteins in the native membrane environment. A combinatorial approach involving mass spectrometry, label-free quantitation, and membrane protein biochemistry are used to tackle this challenging problem. The effort will allow us to visualize interactomes of the target proteins in the PG synthesis complexes and to identify the significantly enriched functions and proteins.

(3) Cell surface modification during intracellular infection    
       In this newly initiated project, we study the surface glycosylation of Listeria monocytogenes with a focus on identifying targets of the cytosolic galactose-binding lectin and how such modification may influence the host-pathogen interaction.

Degrees and Positions Held

• 1996 – 1999   Ph.D., Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, UK
• 1992 – 1994   M.Sc., Department of Plant Pathology and Entomology, National Taiwan University
• 1988 – 1992   B.Sc., Department of Plant Pathology and Entomology, National Taiwan University

• 2014 – present   Associate Research Fellow, Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica
• 2006 – 2014   Assistant Research Fellow, Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica
• 2004 – 2006   Instructor, Department of Molecular, Microbial and Structural Biology, University of Connecticut Health Center, USA
• 1999 – 2003   Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Molecular, Microbial and Structural Biology, University of Connecticut Health Center, USA

Selected Publications

Growth-dependent concentration gradient of the oscillating Min system in Escherichia coli.  
Parada CM, Yan CC, Hung CY, Tu IP, Hsu CP, Shih YL  
Journal of Cell Biology (2025)

Structure of the heterotrimeric membrane protein complex FtsB-FtsL-FtsQ of the bacterial divisome.     
Nguyen HTV, Chen X, Parada C, Luo AC, Shih O, Jeng US, Huang CY, Shih YL, Ma C     
Nature Communications (2023)

Harnessing Fluorescent Moenomycin A Antibiotics for Bacterial Cell Wall Imaging Studies.     
Hsieh PY, Meng FC, Guo CW, Hu KH, Shih YL, Cheng WC     
ChemBioChem (2021)

Active Transport of Membrane Components by Self-Organization of the Min Proteins.     
Shih YL, Huang LT, Tu YM, Lee BF, Bau YC, Hong CY, Lee HL, Shih YP, Hsu MF, Lu ZX, Chen JS, Chao L     
Biophysical Journal (2019)

Quantitative Proteomics Analysis Reveals the Min System of Escherichia coli Modulates Reversible Protein Association with the Inner Membrane.     
Lee HL, Chiang IC, Liang SY, Lee DY, Chang GD, Wang KY, Lin SY, Shih YL     
Molecular & Cellular Proteomics (2016)

Self-Assembly of MinE on the Membrane Underlies Formation of the MinE Ring to Sustain Function of the Escherichia coli Min System.     
Zheng M, Chiang YL, Lee HL, Kong LR, Hsu ST, Hwang IS, Rothfield LI and Shih YL     
J Biol Chem (2014)

Direct MinE-membrane interaction contributes to the proper localization of MinDE in E. coli.     
Hsieh CW, Lai HM, Lin CC, Lin TY, Hsieh TS, Shih YL     
Molecular Microbiology (2010)

Publication List