Description:

Department of Microbiology-Immunology Seminar Series

"Mucosal surfaces are often the first interface between the host, the commensal microbiota and pathogenic microorganisms. Among the most complex of these environments is the gut mucosa, where trillions of bacteria (the commensal microbiota) coexist with the host in a mutually beneficial equilibrium. Infection with enteric pathogens like Salmonella Typhimurium disrupts this equilibrium by causing intestinal inflammation, a response that suppresses the growth of the commensal microbiota and favors the growth of S. Typhimurium by several mechanisms. Infection with S. Typhimurium results in the upregulation of antimicrobial proteins that inhibit bacterial growth by limiting the availability of essential nutrients, including metal ions, in a process termed “nutritional immunity”. My lab studies the mechanisms by which S. Typhimurium evades nutritional immunity and acquires metal ions in the inflamed gut, allowing this pathogen to successfully compete with the microbiota for these essential nutrients."

Manuela Raffatellu, MD

University of California, Irvine

Host: Dr. Nicholas Cianciotto