Biography
Our research group studies bacterial virulence mechanism employing, bacterial genetics, biochemistry, cell biology and genomics methodologies. Entropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) strains and their interaction with epithelial cells is our primary model system and we focus mainly on the type III secretion system (TTSS) of these pathogens. The TTSS is a nano-syringe used by pathogens to inject effector proteins into the host cells. Over the years we elucidated transcription regulation of the TTSS genes, the dynamic of protein translocation and the function of the injected effectors in the host cell. Our challenge is using this experimental system to infer basic principles of biological mechanisms and host-pathogen interactions. In the seminar I will describe a several effector proteins common to EPEC and related strains that function to subvert the host inflammatory response.