When:
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM CT
Where: Robert H Lurie Medical Research Center, Baldwin Auditorium, 303 E. Superior, Chicago, IL 60611 map it
Audience: Faculty/Staff - Student - Post Docs/Docs - Graduate Students
Contact:
Dr. Nicholas Cianciotto
(312) 503-0385
Group: Department of Microbiology-Immunology Seminars/Events
Category: Lectures & Meetings
The Department of Microbiology-Immunology Seminar Series
"Engineering Bacterial Protein Superstructures for Therapeutic Applications"
Daniell Tullman-Ercek, PhD - Northwestern University
Description
Nature uses a variety of techniques to move materials across cellular membranes to get them into or out of cells. These mechanisms are often involved in infection, but may be harnessed for the delivery of desired nucleic acids and proteins. With this talk, I will discuss two very different model systems that can be engineered for such a purpose: the bacteriophage MS2 and the Salmonella SPI-1 type III secretion system. MS2 forms self-assembling icosahedral compartments known as virus-like particles, which are promising both for diagnostics and as drug delivery vehicles. I will describe how we engineered these to encapsulate non-native cargo, as well as to achieve altered size and geometry. The SPI-1 type III secretion system is special for its ability to move proteins in one step across both bacterial membranes and the host cell plasma membrane, and has potential application for the production (and possibly, delivery) of protein therapeutics. I will discuss how we engineered it to secrete heterologous proteins at high titer and purity, and in the process learned more about native features of the system.