Microbiology-Immunology Department: David Ucker, PhD

The Department of Microbiology-Immunology Seminar Series

"Apoptotic Immunity is Subverted in Microbial Pathogenesis"

David Ucker, PhD - University of Illinois

Description

As cells die apoptotically (regardless of the mode of apoptosis induction), they paradoxically gain a new ability to exert potent immunosuppression. The response to apoptotic cells (“Innate Apoptotic Immunity”; IAI) represents a ubiquitous and unconventional immunity. We find that the exploitation of IAI is one strategy that pathogens employ to evade host immunity. This is particularly evident in the case of infection by Listeria monocytogenes, where the extensive induction of apoptosis in host cells, which can be substituted by the introduction of uninfected, exogenous apoptotic cells, not provide a niche for bacterial replication and rather alters host immunity, enhancing pathogenesis substantially.

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