Patricia J. Johnson

Patricia Jean Johnson is a Professor of Microbiology at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).[2] She works on the parasite Trichomonas vaginalis, which is responsible for the most prevalent sexually transmitted infections in the United States, Trichomoniasis. She was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in 2019.[1]

Patricia Johnson
Born
Patricia Jean Johnson
Alma materMurray State University (BS)
University of Michigan (PhD)
AwardsMember of the National Academy of Sciences (2019)[1]
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of California, Los Angeles
Rockefeller University
Netherlands Cancer Institute
ThesisA molecular comparison of actin genes in sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus, S. purpuratus, and Lytechinus pictus) (1984)
InfluencesPiet Borst
Websitebioscience.ucla.edu/faculty/patricia-j-johnson

Early life and education

Johnson grew up on a farm in Virginia.[3] Johnson studied biology at Murray State University, where she specialised in molecular biology.[4] She moved to the University of Michigan for her graduate studies, earning her doctorate in 1984.[5][3] She was supported by the Burroughs Wellcome fund.[6] Her thesis investigated the evolution of exons and introns[7] in actin genes of sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, and Lytechinus pictus).[5]

Research and career

After her PhD, Johnson was a postdoctoral researcher with Piet Borst at the Netherlands Cancer Institute.[3] In the Netherlands Johnson worked on Trypanosoma. She then joined Rockefeller University, where she worked with Christian de Duve.[8] She studied the parasite Trypanosoma brucei, the parasite that causes African trypanosomiasis.[3] Johnson joined the University of California, Los Angeles as an assistant professor in 1988, and was promoted to professor in 1998. At the University of California, Johnson worked on bacterial evolution.[9]

Johnson studies the molecular and cell biology of Trichomonas vaginalis, a parasite that causes trichomoniasis, one of the most prevalent sexually transmitted infections worldwide. Johnson cloned the first Trichomonas vaginalis gene in 1990.[10] She first sequenced the genome of Trichomonas vaginalis in 2007,[11] working with Jane M. Carlton at New York University.[10] To sequence the gene required the efforts of 66 scientists working in 10 countries.[10] Sequencing the genome revealed detailed information about the mechanism by which Trichomonas adheres to and kills human cells.[10] It is estimated that 275 million people worldwide live with the parasite. She investigates the pathogenic mechanisms that permit Trichomonas vaginalis to establish infection.[1] Her work considers new means of diagnosing and treating Trichomonas vaginalis.[3]

Trichomonas vaginalis is one of the most divergent eukaryotes, so provides a good platform to study biodiversity.[12] Johnson studies different aspects of trichomonad biology,[13] including drug resistance, organelle biogenesis, gene expression, genomics and host-parasite interactions.[12] Johnson is also investigating the link between Trichomonas vaginalis and prostate cancer.[11][14][15] In 2014 she found that Trichomonas vaginalis secreted a protein that can invade benign cancerous prostate cells.[15]

She serves as an associate editor of PLOS Pathogens.[16]

Awards and honours
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References
  1. "2019 NAS Election". www.nasonline.org.
  2. Dyall, Sabrina D.; Brown, Mark T.; Johnson, Patricia J. (2004). "Ancient Invasions: From Endosymbionts to Organelles". Science. 304 (5668): 253–257. doi:10.1126/science.1094884. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 15073369.
  3. "Cellular crosstalk and disease pathogenesis". researchfeatures.com. 2018-05-31. Retrieved 2019-05-05.
  4. "Murray State University 2019 Distinguished Alumni Spotlights – The Blue & Gold". msublueandgold.org. Retrieved 2019-05-05.
  5. Johnson, Patricia Jean (1984). A molecular comparison of actin genes in sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus, S. purpuratus, and Lytechinus pictus) (PhD thesis). University of Michigan. OCLC 68294642.
  6. "2014 SCEP Symposium". Southern California Eukaryotic Pathogen Symposium. Retrieved 2019-05-06.
  7. Johnson, Patricia J.; Carlton, Jane M.; Yan, Weihong; Vaňáčová, Štěpánka (2005). "Spliceosomal introns in the deep-branching eukaryote Trichomonas vaginalis". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 102 (12): 4430–4435. doi:10.1073/pnas.0407500102. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 554003. PMID 15764705.
  8. "Patricia Jean Johnson - Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Immunology and Microbiology in Los Angeles, California, United States of America | eMedEvents". emedevents.com. Retrieved 2019-05-05.
  9. "The World's Smallest Genome Just Got Smaller". npr.org. Retrieved 2019-05-06.
  10. "UCLA and NYU microbiologists crack genome of a parasite that causes a common STD". eurekalert.org. Retrieved 2019-05-06.
  11. Carlton, J. M.; Hirt, R. P.; Silva, J. C.; Delcher, A. L.; Schatz, M.; Zhao, Q.; Wortman, J. R.; Bidwell, S. L.; Alsmark, U. C. M.; Besteiro, S.; Sicheritz-Ponten, T.; Noel, C. J.; Dacks, J. B.; Foster, P. G.; Simillion, C.; Van de Peer, Y.; Miranda-Saavedra, D.; Barton, G. J.; Westrop, G. D.; Muller, S.; Dessi, D.; Fiori, P. L.; Ren, Q.; Paulsen, I.; Zhang, H.; Bastida-Corcuera, F. D.; Simoes-Barbosa, A.; Brown, M. T.; Hayes, R. D.; Mukherjee, M.; Okumura, C. Y.; Schneider, R.; Smith, A. J.; Vanacova, S.; Villalvazo, M.; Haas, B. J.; Pertea, M.; Feldblyum, T. V.; Utterback, T. R.; Shu, C.-L.; Osoegawa, K.; de Jong, P. J.; Hrdy, I.; Horvathova, L.; Zubacova, Z.; Dolezal, P.; Malik, S.-B.; Logsdon, J. M.; Henze, K.; Gupta, A.; Wang, C. C.; Dunne, R. L.; Upcroft, J. A.; Upcroft, P.; White, O.; Salzberg, S. L.; Tang, P.; Chiu, C.-H.; Lee, Y.-S.; Embley, T. M.; Coombs, G. H.; Mottram, J. C.; Tachezy, J.; Fraser-Liggett, C. M.; Johnson, P. J. (2007). "Draft Genome Sequence of the Sexually Transmitted Pathogen Trichomonas vaginalis". Science. 315 (5809): 207–212. doi:10.1126/science.1132894. ISSN 0036-8075. PMC 2080659. PMID 17218520.
  12. "Patricia J. Johnson, Ph.D. – Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics". ucla.edu. Retrieved 2019-05-05.
  13. Bui, E. T.; Bradley, P. J.; Johnson, P. J. (1996). "A common evolutionary origin for mitochondria and hydrogenosomes". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 93 (18): 9651–9656. doi:10.1073/pnas.93.18.9651. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 38483. PMID 8790385.
  14. Twu, O.; Dessi, D.; Vu, A.; Mercer, F.; Stevens, G. C.; de Miguel, N.; Rappelli, P.; Cocco, A. R.; Clubb, R. T.; Fiori, P. L.; Johnson, P. J. (2014). "Trichomonas vaginalis homolog of macrophage migration inhibitory factor induces prostate cell growth, invasiveness, and inflammatory responses". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 111 (22): 8179–8184. doi:10.1073/pnas.1321884111. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 4050605. PMID 24843155.
  15. Roberts, Michelle (2014-05-20). "Prostate cancer 'linked to sex bug'". bbc.com. BBC. Retrieved 2019-05-05.
  16. "PLOS Pathogens: A Peer-Reviewed Open-Access Journal". journals.plos.org. Retrieved 2019-05-05.
  17. Johnson, Patricia. "Biogenesis of Hydrogenosomes of a Trichomonad Parasite". grantome.org.
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