Barbara Bensing, PhD
Associate Professor
Medicine
School of Medicine

Education & Training

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• PhD Microbiology University of Minnesota 10/1996
• MS Microbial Engineering University of Minnesota 11/1992
• BS Cell and Molecular Biology University of Michigan 04/1984

Grants and Projects

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• Role of sialoglycan binding in the pathogenesis of streptococcal endocarditis, NIH, 2023-2027
• Engineered probes for sialoglycan detection, NIH, 2020-2024
• Using streptococcal sialoglycan binding proteins to characterize MUC7 glycoforms, NIH, 2020-2022
• Differential recognition of sialoglycans by viridans group streptococci, and the role in infective endocarditis, AHA, 2017-2021

Publications (64)

Top publication keywords:
N-Acetylneuraminic AcidEndocarditis, BacterialStreptococcus sanguisSialic AcidsBacterial AdhesionGlycoproteinsStreptococcusBlood PlateletsSialic Acid Binding Immunoglobulin-like LectinsMembrane Transport ProteinsStreptococcal InfectionsAdenosine TriphosphatasesBacterial ProteinsStreptococcus gordoniiAdhesins, Bacterial

• Sialic acid identity modulates host tropism of sialoglycan-binding viridans group streptococci.
  The Journal of biological chemistry 2025 Morrison KM, Agarwal R, Stubbs HE, Yu H, Ruhl S, Chen X, Sullam PM, Bensing BA, Smith JC, Iverson TM
• Sialic Acid Identity Modulates Host Tropism of Sialoglycan-binding Viridans Group Streptococci.
  bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology 2025 Morrison KM, Agarwal R, Stubbs HE, Yu H, Ruhl S, Chen X, Sullam PM, Bensing BA, Smith JC, Iverson TM
• Streptococcus Gordonii Binds VWF Via Its Sialoglycan-Binding Adhesins Under Shear to Initiate Infective Endocarditis.
  Blood 2024 Martha M.S. Sim, Ava Obenaus, Richard Maldonado, Jennie Le, Lesley Martínez Rodríguez, Barbara Bensing, Paul Sullam, Wendy Thomas, Nathan Sniadecki, Junmei Chen, Jose A. Lopez
• HIV-1 interaction with an O-glycan-specific bacterial lectin enhances virus infectivity and resistance to neutralizing antibodies.
  iScience 2024 Heindel DW, Figueroa Acosta DM, Goff M, Yengo CK, Jan M, Liu X, Wang XH, Petrova MI, Zhang M, Sagar M, Barnette P, Pandey S, Hessell AJ, Chan KW, Kong XP, Chen BK, Mahal LK, Bensing BA, Hioe CE
• Abstract 1982 Targeting Sialic Acids with Streptococcal Adhesin Proteins.
  Journal of Biological Chemistry 2024 KeAndreya Morrison, Barbara Bensing, Hai Yu, Xi Chen, Paul Sullam, T. Iverson

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• Molecular Insights into O-Linked Sialoglycans Recognition by the Siglec-Like SLBR-N (SLBRUB10712) of Streptococcus gordonii.
  ACS central science 2024 Di Carluccio C, Cerofolini L, Moreira M, Rosu F, Padilla-Cortés L, Gheorghita GR, Xu Z, Santra A, Yu H, Yokoyama S, Gray TE, St Laurent CD, Manabe Y, Chen X, Fukase K, Macauley MS, Molinaro A, Li T, …
• HIV-1 interaction with an O-glycan-specific bacterial lectin enhances virus infectivity and resistance to neutralization by antibodies.
  Research square 2024 Heindel DW, Figueroa Acosta DM, Goff M, Yengo CK, Jan M, Liu X, Wang XH, Petrova MI, Zhang M, Sagar M, Barnette P, Pandey S, Hessell AJ, Chan KW, Kong XP, Chen BK, Mahal LK, Bensing BA, Hioe CE
• Development and applications of sialoglycan-recognizing probes (SGRPs) with defined specificities: exploring the dynamic mammalian sialoglycome.
  Glycobiology 2022 Srivastava S, Verhagen A, Sasmal A, Wasik BR, Diaz S, Yu H, Bensing BA, Khan N, Khedri Z, Secrest P, Sullam P, Varki N, Chen X, Parrish CR, Varki A
• Origins of glycan selectivity in streptococcal Siglec-like adhesins suggest mechanisms of receptor adaptation.
  Nature communications 2022 Bensing BA, Stubbs HE, Agarwal R, Yamakawa I, Luong K, Solakyildirim K, Yu H, Hadadianpour A, Castro MA, Fialkowski KP, Morrison KM, Wawrzak Z, Chen X, Lebrilla CB, Baudry J, Smith JC, Sullam PM, …
• Biological Consequences of HIV-1 Interactions with Bacteria.
  The FASEB Journal 2022 Daniel W. Heindel, Kun-Wei Chan, Mariya I. Petrova, Xiang-Peng Kong, Sarah Lebeer, Barbara A. Bensing, Lara K. Mahal, Catarina E. Hioe
• O-linked α2,3 sialylation defines stem cell populations in breast cancer.
  Science advances 2022 Walker MR, Goel HL, Mukhopadhyay D, Chhoy P, Karner ER, Clark JL, Liu H, Li R, Zhu JL, Chen S, Mahal LK, Bensing BA, Mercurio AM
• Proteoglycan 4 (lubricin) is a highly sialylated glycoprotein associated with cardiac valve damage in animal models of infective endocarditis.
  Glycobiology 2021 Solakyildirim K, Li Y, Bayer AS, Sullam PM, Xiong YQ, Lebrilla CB, Bensing BA
• Molecular recognition of sialoglycans by streptococcal Siglec-like adhesins: toward the shape of specific inhibitors.
  RSC chemical biology 2021 Di Carluccio C, Forgione RE, Bosso A, Yokoyama S, Manabe Y, Pizzo E, Molinaro A, Fukase K, Fragai M, Bensing BA, Marchetti R, Silipo A
• Display of the human mucinome with defined O-glycans by gene engineered cells.
  Nature communications 2021 Nason R, Büll C, Konstantinidi A, Sun L, Ye Z, Halim A, Du W, Sørensen DM, Durbesson F, Furukawa S, Mandel U, Joshi HJ, Dworkin LA, Hansen L, David L, Iverson TM, Bensing BA, Sullam PM, Varki A, Vries…
• Novel, non-invasive markers for detecting therapy induced neuroendocrine differentiation in castration-resistant prostate cancer patients.
  Scientific reports 2021 Bhagirath D, Liston M, Akoto T, Lui B, Bensing BA, Sharma A, Saini S
• O-acetylation controls the glycosylation of bacterial serine-rich repeat glycoproteins.
  The Journal of biological chemistry 2021 Seepersaud R, Anderson AC, Bensing BA, Choudhury BP, Clarke AJ, Sullam PM
• Structure based virtual screening identifies small molecule effectors for the sialoglycan binding protein Hsa.
  The Biochemical journal 2020 Agarwal R, Bensing BA, Mi D, Vinson PN, Baudry J, Iverson TM, Smith JC
• Tandem sialoglycan-binding modules in a Streptococcus sanguinis serine-rich repeat adhesin create target dependent avidity effects.
  The Journal of biological chemistry 2020 Stubbs HE, Bensing BA, Yamakawa I, Sharma P, Yu H, Chen X, Sullam PM, Iverson TM
• The Two Distinct Types of SecA2-Dependent Export Systems.
  2019 Miriam Braunstein, Barbara A. Bensing, Paul M. Sullam
• Recognition of specific sialoglycan structures by oral streptococci impacts the severity of endocardial infection.
  PLoS pathogens 2019 Bensing BA, Li L, Yakovenko O, Wong M, Barnard KN, Iverson TM, Lebrilla CB, Parrish CR, Thomas WE, Xiong Y, Sullam PM
• An Atlas of Human Glycosylation Pathways Enables Display of the Human Glycome by Gene Engineered Cells.
  Molecular cell 2019 Narimatsu Y, Joshi HJ, Nason R, Van Coillie J, Karlsson R, Sun L, Ye Z, Chen YH, Schjoldager KT, Steentoft C, Furukawa S, Bensing BA, Sullam PM, Thompson AJ, Paulson JC, Büll C, Adema GJ, Mandel U, …
• Development of Sialoglycan Recognizing Probes (SGRPs) With Defined Specificities: Towards Exploring the Dynamic Mammalian Sialoglycome.
  The Journal of Immunology 2019 Saurabh Srivastava, Andrea Verhagen, Brian Wasik, Hai Yu, Aniruddha Sasmal, Barbara Bensing, Naazneen Khan, Zahra Khedri, Sandra Diaz, Paul Sullam, Nissi Varki, Xi Chen, Colin Parrish, Ajit Varki
• The Two Distinct Types of SecA2-Dependent Export Systems.
  Microbiology spectrum 2019 Braunstein M, Bensing BA, Sullam PM
• The mucin-selective protease StcE enables molecular and functional analysis of human cancer-associated mucins.
  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2019 Malaker SA, Pedram K, Ferracane MJ, Bensing BA, Krishnan V, Pett C, Yu J, Woods EC, Kramer JR, Westerlind U, Dorigo O, Bertozzi CR
• Membrane trafficking of the bacterial adhesin GspB and the accessory Sec transport machinery.
  The Journal of biological chemistry 2018 Spencer C, Bensing BA, Mishra NN, Sullam PM
• Streptococcal Siglec-like adhesins recognize different subsets of human plasma glycoproteins: implications for infective endocarditis.
  Glycobiology 2018 Bensing BA, Li Q, Park D, Lebrilla CB, Sullam PM
• Serine-Rich Repeat Adhesins Mediate Shear-Enhanced Streptococcal Binding to Platelets.
  Infection and immunity 2018 Yakovenko O, Nunez J, Bensing B, Yu H, Mount J, Zeng J, Hawkins J, Chen X, Sullam PM, Thomas W
• Unraveling the sequence of cytosolic reactions in the export of GspB adhesin from Streptococcus gordonii.
  The Journal of biological chemistry 2018 Chen Y, Bensing BA, Seepersaud R, Mi W, Liao M, Jeffrey PD, Shajahan A, Sonon RN, Azadi P, Sullam PM, Rapoport TA
• O-acetylation of the serine-rich repeat glycoprotein GspB is coordinated with accessory Sec transport.
  PLoS pathogens 2017 Seepersaud R, Sychantha D, Bensing BA, Clarke AJ, Sullam PM
• Structures of the Streptococcus sanguinis SrpA Binding Region with Human Sialoglycans Suggest Features of the Physiological Ligand.
  Biochemistry 2016 Loukachevitch LV, Bensing BA, Yu H, Zeng J, Chen X, Sullam PM, Iverson TM
• Novel aspects of sialoglycan recognition by the Siglec-like domains of streptococcal SRR glycoproteins.
  Glycobiology 2016 Bensing BA, Khedri Z, Deng L, Yu H, Prakobphol A, Fisher SJ, Chen X, Iverson TM, Varki A, Sullam PM
• Mechanism of a cytosolic O-glycosyltransferase essential for the synthesis of a bacterial adhesion protein.
  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2016 Chen Y, Seepersaud R, Bensing BA, Sullam PM, Rapoport TA
• Structural Basis for Sialoglycan Binding by the Streptococcus sanguinis SrpA Adhesin.
  The Journal of biological chemistry 2016 Bensing BA, Loukachevitch LV, McCulloch KM, Yu H, Vann KR, Wawrzak Z, Anderson S, Chen X, Sullam PM, Iverson TM
• Oral streptococci utilize a Siglec-like domain of serine-rich repeat adhesins to preferentially target platelet sialoglycans in human blood.
  PLoS pathogens 2014 Deng L, Bensing BA, Thamadilok S, Yu H, Lau K, Chen X, Ruhl S, Sullam PM, Varki A
• Selective transport by SecA2: an expanding family of customized motor proteins.
  Biochimica et biophysica acta 2013 Bensing BA, Seepersaud R, Yen YT, Sullam PM
• Differential localization of the streptococcal accessory sec components and implications for substrate export.
  Journal of bacteriology 2012 Yen YT, Cameron TA, Bensing BA, Seepersaud R, Zambryski PC, Sullam PM
• The accessory Sec protein Asp2 modulates GlcNAc deposition onto the serine-rich repeat glycoprotein GspB.
  Journal of bacteriology 2012 Seepersaud R, Bensing BA, Yen YT, Sullam PM
• A Specific interaction between SecA2 and a region of the preprotein adjacent to the signal peptide occurs during transport via the accessory Sec system.
  The Journal of biological chemistry 2012 Bensing BA, Yen YT, Seepersaud R, Sullam PM
• A structural model for binding of the serine-rich repeat adhesin GspB to host carbohydrate receptors.
  PLoS pathogens 2011 Pyburn TM, Bensing BA, Xiong YQ, Melancon BJ, Tomasiak TM, Ward NJ, Yankovskaya V, Oliver KM, Cecchini G, Sulikowski GA, Tyska MJ, Sullam PM, Iverson TM
• Asp2 and Asp3 interact directly with GspB, the export substrate of the Streptococcus gordonii accessory Sec System.
  Journal of bacteriology 2011 Yen YT, Seepersaud R, Bensing BA, Sullam PM
• Purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of the carbohydrate-binding region of the Streptococcus gordonii adhesin GspB.
  Acta crystallographica. Section F, Structural biology and crystallization communications 2010 Pyburn TM, Yankovskaya V, Bensing BA, Cecchini G, Sullam PM, Iverson TM
• Asp3 mediates multiple protein-protein interactions within the accessory Sec system of Streptococcus gordonii.
  Molecular microbiology 2010 Seepersaud R, Bensing BA, Yen YT, Sullam PM
• Transport of preproteins by the accessory Sec system requires a specific domain adjacent to the signal peptide.
  Journal of bacteriology 2010 Bensing BA, Sullam PM
• Characterization of Streptococcus gordonii SecA2 as a paralogue of SecA.
  Journal of bacteriology 2009 Bensing BA, Sullam PM
• Role of the serine-rich surface glycoprotein GspB of Streptococcus gordonii in the pathogenesis of infective endocarditis.
  Microbial pathogenesis 2008 Xiong YQ, Bensing BA, Bayer AS, Chambers HF, Sullam PM
• Glycine residues in the hydrophobic core of the GspB signal sequence route export toward the accessory Sec pathway.
  Journal of bacteriology 2007 Bensing BA, Siboo IR, Sullam PM
• Binding of the streptococcal surface glycoproteins GspB and Hsa to human salivary proteins.
  Infection and immunity 2006 Takamatsu D, Bensing BA, Prakobphol A, Fisher SJ, Sullam PM
• Determinants of the streptococcal surface glycoprotein GspB that facilitate export by the accessory Sec system.
  Molecular microbiology 2005 Bensing BA, Takamatsu D, Sullam PM
• Binding of the Streptococcus gordonii surface glycoproteins GspB and Hsa to specific carbohydrate structures on platelet membrane glycoprotein Ibalpha.
  Molecular microbiology 2005 Takamatsu D, Bensing BA, Cheng H, Jarvis GA, Siboo IR, López JA, Griffiss JM, Sullam PM
• Two additional components of the accessory sec system mediating export of the Streptococcus gordonii platelet-binding protein GspB.
  Journal of bacteriology 2005 Takamatsu D, Bensing BA, Sullam PM
• Four proteins encoded in the gspB-secY2A2 operon of Streptococcus gordonii mediate the intracellular glycosylation of the platelet-binding protein GspB.
  Journal of bacteriology 2004 Takamatsu D, Bensing BA, Sullam PM
• The Streptococcus gordonii surface proteins GspB and Hsa mediate binding to sialylated carbohydrate epitopes on the platelet membrane glycoprotein Ibalpha.
  Infection and immunity 2004 Bensing BA, López JA, Sullam PM
• Genes in the accessory sec locus of Streptococcus gordonii have three functionally distinct effects on the expression of the platelet-binding protein GspB.
  Molecular microbiology 2004 Takamatsu D, Bensing BA, Sullam PM
• The Streptococcus gordonii platelet binding protein GspB undergoes glycosylation independently of export.
  Journal of bacteriology 2004 Bensing BA, Gibson BW, Sullam PM
• Genomic organization and molecular characterization of SM1, a temperate bacteriophage of Streptococcus mitis.
  Journal of bacteriology 2003 Siboo IR, Bensing BA, Sullam PM
• An accessory sec locus of Streptococcus gordonii is required for export of the surface protein GspB and for normal levels of binding to human platelets.
  Molecular microbiology 2002 Bensing BA, Sullam PM
• Proteins PblA and PblB of Streptococcus mitis, which promote binding to human platelets, are encoded within a lysogenic bacteriophage.
  Infection and immunity 2001 Bensing BA, Siboo IR, Sullam PM
• Genetic loci of Streptococcus mitis that mediate binding to human platelets.
  Infection and immunity 2001 Bensing BA, Rubens CE, Sullam PM
• Pheromone cCF10 and plasmid pCF10-encoded regulatory molecules act post-transcriptionally to activate expression of downstream conjugation functions.
  Molecular microbiology 1997 Bensing BA, Manias DA, Dunny GM
• Pheromone-inducible expression of an aggregation protein in Enterococcus faecalis requires interaction of a plasmid-encoded RNA with components of the ribosome.
  Molecular microbiology 1997 Bensing BA, Dunny GM
• Sensitive detection of bacterial transcription initiation sites and differentiation from RNA processing sites in the pheromone-induced plasmid transfer system of Enterococcus faecalis.
  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 1996 Bensing BA, Meyer BJ, Dunny GM
• Genetic analysis of a region of the Enterococcus faecalis plasmid pCF10 involved in positive regulation of conjugative transfer functions.
  Journal of bacteriology 1995 Chung JW, Bensing BA, Dunny GM
• Pheromone-inducible gene regulation and signalling for the control of aggregation substance expression in the conjugative plasmid pCF10.
  Developments in biological standardization 1995 Leonard BA, Bensing BA, Hedberg PJ, Ruhfel RE, Chung JW, Dunny GM
• Cloning and molecular analysis of genes affecting expression of binding substance, the recipient-encoded receptor(s) mediating mating aggregate formation in Enterococcus faecalis.
  Journal of bacteriology 1993 Bensing BA, Dunny GM