Publications and Media

A complete list of Dr. Howell’s publications can be found via PubMed or Google Scholar.

20 most recent publications:

Bacillus cereus PelA_DA is a polysaccharide de-N-acetylase required for Pel-dependent biofilm formation. Subramanian AS, Le Mauff F, Kitova EN, Pfoh R, Panjalingam M, Wu DY, Gilbert S, Morrison ZA, Jacobsen-Pérez CA, Razvi E, Nitz M, Codée J, Klassen JS, Sheppard DC, Howell PL.  J Biol Chem. 2026 May 6:113122.

Glycoside hydrolases enhance antibiotic activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms from cystic fibrosis airways. Martin I, Chung J, Raju D, Yau Y, Morris AJ, Eisha S, Howell PL, Waters V.  Microbiol Spectr. 2026 Apr 7;14(4):e0135425.

Separation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa type IV pilus-dependent twitching motility and surface-sensing responses. Barnshaw R, Harvey H, McCallum M, Lazarou T, Nguyen S, Qaderi I, Tran V, Roberge N, Geiger C, O’Toole GA, Howell PL, Burrows LL.  mBio. 2025 Nov 12;16(11):e0252125. doi: 10.1128/mbio.02521-25.

FimX regulates type IV pilus localization via the Pil-Chp chemosensory system in Acinetobacter baylyi. Ellison TJ, Yen IY, Howell PL, Ellison CK.  Mol Biol Cell. 2025 Sep 1;36(9):ar113.

Auto-aggregation in Streptococcus intermedius is driven by the Pel polysaccharide. Raju D, Turner SA, Castro K, Whitfield GB, Lamarche D, Mahajan S, Pfoh R, Chuang SH, Le Mauff F, Joe M, Sarkar S, Lowary TL, Sheppard DC, Wozniak DJ, Surette MG, Howell PL.  mBio. 2025 Aug 13;16(8):e0119625.

Conformational changes in the motor ATPase CpaF facilitate a rotary mechanism of Tad pilus assembly. Yen IY, Whitfield GB, Rubinstein JL, Burrows LL, Brun YV, Howell PL.  Nat Commun. 2025 Apr 24;16(1):3839.

Structural and functional analysis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PelA provides insight into the modification of the Pel exopolysaccharide. Van Loon JC, Le Mauff F, Vargas MA, Gilbert S, Pfoh R, Morrison ZA, Razvi E, Nitz M, Sheppard DC, Howell PL.  J Biol Chem. 2025 May;301(5):108432.

Bespoke Activity-Based Probes Reveal that the Pseudomonas aeruginosa Endoglycosidase, PslG, Is an Endo-β-glucanase. Ruijgrok G, Offen WA, Pickles IB, Raju D, Patsos T, de Boer C, Ofman T, Rompa J, van Oord D, Dodson EJ, Beekers A, Voskuilen T, Ferrari M, Wu L, Janssen APA, Codée JDC, Howell PL, Davies GJ, Overkleeft HS.  J Am Chem Soc. 2025 Mar 12;147(10):8578-8586.

PilY1 regulates the dynamic architecture of the type IV pilus machine in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Guo S, Chang Y, Brun YV, Howell PL, Burrows LL, Liu J.  Nat Commun. 2024 Oct 30;15(1):9382.

The role of exopolysaccharides Psl and Pel in resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to the oxidative stressors sodium hypochlorite and hydrogen peroxide. da Cruz Nizer WS, Allison KN, Adams ME, Vargas MA, Ahmed D, Beaulieu C, Raju D, Cassol E, Howell PL, Overhage J.  Microbiol Spectr. 2024 Oct 3;12(10):e0092224.

CD56-mediated activation of human natural killer cells is triggered by Aspergillus fumigatus galactosaminogalactan. Heilig L, Natasha F, Trinks N, Aimanianda V, Wong SSW, Fontaine T, Terpitz U, Strobel L, Le Mauff F, Sheppard DC, Schäuble S, Kurzai O, Hünniger K, Weiss E, Vargas M, Howell PL, Panagiotou G, Wurster S, Einsele H, Loeffler J.  PLoS Pathog. 2024 Jun 18;20(6):e1012315.

Biofilm exopolysaccharides alter sensory-neuron-mediated sickness during lung infection. Granton E, Brown L, Defaye M, Moazen P, Almblad H, Randall TE, Rich JD, Geppert A, Abdullah NS, Hassanabad MF, Hiroki CH, Farias R, Nguyen AP, Schubert C, Lou Y, Andonegui G, Iftinca M, Raju D, Vargas MA, Howell PL, Füzesi T, Bains J, Kurrasch D, Harrison JJ, Altier C, Yipp BG.  Cell. 2024 Apr 11;187(8):1874-1888.e14.

Binding of GTP to BifA is required for the production of Pel-dependent biofilms in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Van Loon JC, Whitfield GB, Wong N, O’Neal L, Henrickson A, Demeler B, O’Toole GA, Parsek MR, Howell PL.  J Bacteriol. 2024 Feb 22;206(2):e0033123.

Metabolic Usage and Glycan Destinations of GlcNAz in E. coli. Eddenden A, Dooda MK, Morrison ZA, Shankara Subramanian A, Howell PL, Troutman JM, Nitz M.  ACS Chem Biol. 2024 Jan 19;19(1):69-80.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm exopolysaccharides: assembly, function, and degradation. Gheorghita AA, Wozniak DJ, Parsek MR, Howell PL. FEMS Microbiol Rev. 2023 Nov 1;47(6):fuad060.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa AlgF is a protein-protein interaction mediator required for acetylation of the alginate exopolysaccharide. Low KE, Gheorghita AA, Tammam SD, Whitfield GB, Li YE, Riley LM, Weadge JT, Caldwell SJ, Chong PA, Walvoort MTC, Kitova EN, Klassen JS, Codée JDC, Howell PL.  J Biol Chem. 2023 Nov;299(11):105314.

Structure of the bc₁–cbb₃ respiratory supercomplex from Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Di Trani JM, Gheorghita AA, Turner M, Brzezinski P, Ädelroth P, Vahidi S, Howell PL, Rubinstein JL.  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023 Oct 3;120(40):e2307093120.

The Metabolic Usage and Glycan Destinations of GlcNAz in E. coli. Eddenden A, Dooda MK, Morrison ZA, Subramanian AS, Howell PL, Troutman JM, Nitz M.  bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2023 Aug 17:2023.08.17.553294.

Distinct types of multicellular aggregates in Pseudomonas aeruginosa liquid cultures. Melaugh G, Martinez VA, Baker P, Hill PJ, Howell PL, Wozniak DJ, Allen RJ.  NPJ Biofilms Microbiomes. 2023 Jul 28;9(1):52.

Small Molecule Inhibition of an Exopolysaccharide Modification Enzyme is a Viable Strategy To Block Pseudomonas aeruginosa Pel Biofilm Formation. Razvi E, DiFrancesco BR, Wasney GA, Morrison ZA, Tam J, Auger A, Baker P, Alnabelseya N, Rich JD, Sivarajah P, Whitfield GB, Harrison JJ, Melnyk RA, Nitz M, Howell PL.  Microbiol Spectr. 2023 Jun 15;11(3):e0029623.