University of Manitoba

U of M - Dentistry - Department of Oral Biology

Department of Oral Biology

Department Research Profiles

Kangmin Duan
B.Sc. (Northwest), M.Sc., Ph.D. (New South Wales)
Assistant Professor

Email: duank@cc.umanitoba.ca


Research Interests

Infectious disease is the leading cause of human death, accounting for about 25% of deaths worldwide. Antibiotic resistance among pathogens is increasingly making the once successful “wonder drugs” ineffective and poses an ominous threat to human health. Throughout the world, treatment failure for infectious diseases is widely associated with resistant pathogens. Infectious disease presents a huge economic burden and imposes immeasurable pain and suffering to individuals.

The primary aim of our research is to understand the genetics and biochemistry of bacterial pathogenesis and bacterial drug resistance in the context of microbial communities. There are three intertwining research focuses in the lab:
  1. Bacterial cell-cell signalling and interaction
  2. Molecular mechanisms of virulence and antibiotic resistance in pathogens
  3. Development of novel antimicrobial strategies by targeting cell-cell signalling and virulence factors

Selected Recent Publications:

  • Liang, H., J. Duan, C.D. Sibley, M. Surette, and K. Duan. (2011) Identification of Mutants with Altered Phenazine Production in Pseudomonas aeruginosa J. Med. Microbiol. 60 (1): 22-34

  • Yang, L., L. Chen, L. Shen, M. Surette, K. Duan. (2011) Inactivation of MuxABC-OpmB transporter system in Pseudomonas aeruginosa leads to increased ampicillin and carbenicillin resistance and decreased virulence. J. Microbiol. 49(1):107-14

  • Chen, L., Wang W., W. Sun, M. Surette, and K. Duan. (2010) Characterization of a cryptic plasmid in Pseudomonas sp. and utilization of its temperature-sensitive derivatives for genetic manipulation. Plasmid 64 (2): 110-117

  • Chen, L. L. Yang, X. Zhao and K. Duan. (2010) Identification of Pseudomonas aeruginosa genes associated with antibiotic susceptibility. Sci. China Life-Sciences. 53:1247-1251

  • Liang, H., L. Li, W. Kong, L. Shen, and K. Duan. (2009) Identification of a potential regulator of the quorum-sensing systems in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. FEMS Microbiol Lett. . 239: 196 – 204

  • Song, J., H. Fang, and K. Duan (2009) Charactering Gene Expressions Based on Their Temporal Observations. J. Biomed. Biotechnol. doi: 10.1155/2009/357937

  • Zhang Y. and K. Duan. (2009) Glutathione exhibits antibacterial activity and increases tetracycline efficacy against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Science in China Series C: Life Sciences 52(6) 501-505

  • Wei, Y., Z. Li, B. Chen, H. Liang, and K. Duan. (2009) Characterization of the orf1-tolQRA operon in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Microbiol. Immunol. 53 (6): 309-318

  • Duan, K. C.D. Sibley, CJ Davidson, and M. Surette, (2009) Chemical interactions between microorganisms in microbial communities in “Bacterial Sensing and Signaling” ed. by Mattias Collin and Raymond Schuch, a volume in the series ‘Contributions to Microbiology’. Karger AG

  • Liang, H., L. Li, Z. Dong, M. Surette, and K. Duan. (2008) The YebC family protein PA0964 negatively regulates Pseudomonas quinolone signal (PQS) system and pyocyanin production. J. Bacteriol. 190:6217-6227

  • Shen L., Y. Shi., D. Zhang, J. Wei, M. G. Surette, and K. Duan. (2008) Modulation of secreted virulence factor genes by subinhibitory concentrations of antibiotics in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. J. Microbiol. 46:441-447

  • Sibley, C.D., M. Parkins, D. G. Storey, H. Rabin, K. Duan, C. Norgaard, and M. G. Surette. (2008) A polymicrobial perspective of pulmonary infections exposes an enigmatic pathogen in cystic fibrosis patients. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 105: 15070-15075

  • Sibley, C.D., K. Duan, C. Fischer, M. D. Parkins, D. G. Storey, H. Rabin and M. G. Surette. (2008) Discerning the complexity of community interactions using a Drosophila model of polymicrobial infections. PLOS Pathogens 4 (10) : e1000184

  • Han S., J. Ma, Y. Lv, C. Huang, H. Liang, K. Duan. (2008) Secretory Tat-Apoptin fusion protein induces apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells. World J. Gastroenterol. 14(23):3642-3649

  • Duan, K. and M. Surette. (2007) Environmental regulation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 las and rhl quorum sensing systems. J. Bacteriol. 189: 4827-4836

  • Song J., K. Duan and M. Surette. (2007) The wavelet-based cluster analysis for temporal gene expression data. EURASIP J. Bioinform. Sys. Biol. doi:10.1155/2007/39382

  • Xie, J., W. Sun, K. Duan and Y. Zhang (2007) Chemical constituents of roots of Epimedium wushanense and evaluation of their biological activities. Natural Product Research, Vol. 21 (7): 600–605

  • Duan, K. and M. Surette, (2006) LuxS in cellular metabolism and cell-cell signalling in "Bacterial Cell-to-Cell Communication: Role in Virulence and Pathogenesis" ed. by Donald R. Demuth, Cambridge University Press