Research

Bacterial infections are a major concern world-wide and cause as much as 1.7 M of deaths every year. Bacteria have developed dedicated machineries and effector proteins to modulate, disrupt or subvert host defenses. Once protected from the host, bacteria multiply and often at the dispense of the host resources. Helicobacter pylori is a Gram-negative, spiral-shaped bacterium that colonizes the gastric mucosa.The prevalence of H. pylori infections in the human population is very high, with up to 30% in developed countries, and as much as 80 to 95% in developing countries. Thus, H. pylori infection is probably one of the most common bacterial infections worldwide. Diseases associated with these infections have an important medical and economic impact. It is estimated that 10-20% of individuals infected during their childhood will develop ulcers, while gastric cancers develop in 1% of infected individuals. For these reasons, H. pylori was defined as a group 1 carcinogen by International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). According to the same agency, stomach cancers are the second most important cause of mortality by cancer with over 750,000 deaths/year. In addition we have started investigating other bacterial pathogens such as Brucella and Legionella or Francisella which also utilize effectors to promote infection.

We use a panel of techniques to study macromolecular interactions including: Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, X-ray Crystallography, Cryo-electron Microscopy, Small angle X-ray scattering, Multi-angle light scattering and Isothermal Titration Calorimetry.

Bats et al., Int J Med Microbiol. 2018

Bergé and Terradot, CTMI, 2017

Kaplan-Türköz et al., PNAS. 2012

Terradot and Waksman, FEBS J. 2011

Tosi et al., FEBS Letters. 2009

Jiménez-Soto et al., PLoS Path. 2009