A Genome Wide Screen For Human Genes That Support The Replication Of Intracellular Bacterial Pathogens
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$321,090.00
Summary
Coxiella burnetii is a bacterium that causes a life threatening infection of humans, termed Q fever.Coxiella survives and replicates inside human cells within a unique protected niche and little is known about how the bacterium does this. This study will identify and investigate the individual human proteins that are used by the bacterium to manipulate the human cells it inhabits and the mechanisms through which the bacterium achieves this.
Host-pathogen Interactions In Burkholderia Infection
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$490,322.00
Summary
Melioidosis is a fatal tropical disease caused by a bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei. We found that when the bacterium infects macrophage-like cells in culture (that normally kills bacteria), the cells turn into a cell like an osteoclast, a cell that normally degrades bone. Since an osteoclast is unable to kill bacteria, we speculate that the bacterium subverts the macrophage differentiation pathway and directs the cells into a state where it is unable to attack the invading bacteria.