Allison Williams, PhD
Assistant Professor
Cellular Molecular Pharmacology
School of Medicine

Awards

Show all (3) Hide

• Pasteur Maladies Infectieuses fellowship, Institut Pasteur, 2013
• EMBO Long Term Fellowship, Institut Pasteur, 2010-2013
• The Hartwell Foundation Individual Biomedical Post-Doctoral Award, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 2007-2010

Publications (20)

Top publication keywords:
GlycosyltransferasesBacterial ProteinsListeria monocytogenesUridine Diphosphate N-AcetylglucosamineGene Expression Regulation, BacterialMultienzyme ComplexesStress, PhysiologicalNeisseria meningitidis, Serogroup BCell WallEsterasesBacteriaPeptidoglycanAcyltransferasesDrug DesignNeisseria meningitidis

• Stress-dependent activation of the Listeria monocytogenes virulence program ensures bacterial resilience during infection.
  mBio 2025 Lobanovska M, Feng Y, Zhang J, Williams AH, Portnoy DA
• Molecular architecture and function of the bacterial stressosome.
  Current opinion in microbiology 2024 Zhao Z, Hajiahmadi F, Alehashem MS, Williams AH
• Acetylation regulates the oligomerization state and activity of RNase J, the Helicobacter pylori major ribonuclease.
  Nature communications 2023 Tejada-Arranz A, Lulla A, Bouilloux-Lafont M, Turlin E, Pei XY, Douché T, Matondo M, Williams AH, Raynal B, Luisi BF, De Reuse H
• The mechanistic landscape of Lytic transglycosylase as targets for antibacterial therapy.
  Current opinion in structural biology 2022 Martinez-Bond EA, Soriano BM, Williams AH
• eLife Digest
  Defective enzyme weakens cell wall 2020 Allison Hillary Williams et al.

Show all (15 more) Hide

• Defective lytic transglycosylase disrupts cell morphogenesis by hindering cell wall de-O-acetylation in Neisseria meningitidis.
  eLife 2020 Williams AH, Wheeler R, Deghmane AE, Santecchia I, Schaub RE, Hicham S, Moya Nilges M, Malosse C, Chamot-Rooke J, Haouz A, Dillard JP, Robins WP, Taha MK, Gomperts Boneca I
• The cryo-electron microscopy supramolecular structure of the bacterial stressosome unveils its mechanism of activation.
  Nature communications 2019 Williams AH, Redzej A, Rolhion N, Costa TRD, Rifflet A, Waksman G, Cossart P
• Structure guided design of an antibacterial peptide that targets UDP-N-acetylglucosamine acyltransferase.
  Scientific reports 2019 Dangkulwanich M, Raetz CRH, Williams AH
• Author Correction: N-terminomics identifies Prli42 as a membrane miniprotein conserved in Firmicutes and critical for stressosome activation in Listeria monocytogenes.
  Nature microbiology 2018 Impens F, Rolhion N, Radoshevich L, Bécavin C, Duval M, Mellin J, García Del Portillo F, Pucciarelli MG, Williams AH, Cossart P
• A step-by-step in crystallo guide to bond cleavage and 1,6-anhydro-sugar product synthesis by a peptidoglycan-degrading lytic transglycosylase.
  The Journal of biological chemistry 2018 Williams AH, Wheeler R, Rateau L, Malosse C, Chamot-Rooke J, Haouz A, Taha MK, Boneca IG
• Bulgecin A: The Key to a Broad-Spectrum Inhibitor  That Targets Lytic Transglycosylases.
  Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) 2017 Williams AH, Wheeler R, Thiriau C, Haouz A, Taha MK, Boneca IG
• N-terminomics identifies Prli42 as a membrane miniprotein conserved in Firmicutes and critical for stressosome activation in Listeria monocytogenes.
  Nature microbiology 2017 Impens F, Rolhion N, Radoshevich L, Bécavin C, Duval M, Mellin J, García Del Portillo F, Pucciarelli MG, Williams AH, Cossart P
• Visualization of a substrate-induced productive conformation of the catalytic triad of the Neisseria meningitidis peptidoglycan O-acetylesterase reveals mechanistic conservation in SGNH esterase family members.
  Acta crystallographica. Section D, Biological crystallography 2014 Williams AH, Veyrier FJ, Bonis M, Michaud Y, Raynal B, Taha MK, White SW, Haouz A, Boneca IG
• The dynamics of peptidoglycan structure and function: conference report on the 3rd Great Wall Symposium.
  Research in microbiology 2013 Williams AH, Boneca IG, Burrows LL, Bugg TD
• De-O-acetylation of peptidoglycan regulates glycan chain extension and affects in vivo survival of Neisseria meningitidis.
  Molecular microbiology 2013 Veyrier FJ, Williams AH, Mesnage S, Schmitt C, Taha MK, Boneca IG
• Atg8 transfer from Atg7 to Atg3: a distinctive E1-E2 architecture and mechanism in the autophagy pathway.
  Molecular cell 2011 Taherbhoy AM, Tait SW, Kaiser SE, Williams AH, Deng A, Nourse A, Hammel M, Kurinov I, Rock CO, Green DR, Schulman BA
• Structural basis for the sugar nucleotide and acyl-chain selectivity of Leptospira interrogans LpxA.
  Biochemistry 2009 Robins LI, Williams AH, Raetz CR
• Structural basis for the acyl chain selectivity and mechanism of UDP-N-acetylglucosamine acyltransferase.
  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2007 Williams AH, Raetz CR
• Structure of UDP-N-acetylglucosamine acyltransferase with a bound antibacterial pentadecapeptide.
  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2006 Williams AH, Immormino RM, Gewirth DT, Raetz CR
• Enzymatic synthesis of lipid A molecules with four amide-linked acyl chains. LpxA acyltransferases selective for an analog of UDP-N-acetylglucosamine in which an amine replaces the 3"-hydroxyl group.
  The Journal of biological chemistry 2004 Sweet CR, Williams AH, Karbarz MJ, Werts C, Kalb SR, Cotter RJ, Raetz CR