Publications related to Anticytolytic Screen Identifies Inhibitors of Mycobacterial Virulence Protein Secretion

Single-cell analysis of the interactions between Mycobacterium tuberculosis and macrophages

Mycobacterium Tuberculosis is a highly effective pathogen infecting nearly a third of the world's population. An M. tuberculosis infection starts when droplets containing bacteria enter an individual's lungs. The first host cells to contact the bacteria ar ...

EPFL2024

Bacterial diversity dominates variable macrophage responses of tuberculosis patients in Tanzania

Jacques Fellay, Zhi Ming Xu

The Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) comprises nine human-adapted lineages that differ in their geographical distribution. Local adaptation of specific MTBC genotypes to the respective human host population has been invoked in this context. We aim ...

Nature Portfolio2024

Human alveolar lining fl uid from the elderly promotes Mycobacterium tuberculosis intracellular growth and translocation into the cytosol of alveolar epithelial cells

Vivek Vijay Thacker, Richa Mishra

The elderly population is highly susceptible to developing respiratory diseases, including tuberculosis, a devastating disease caused by the airborne pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis ( M.tb ) that kills one person every 18 seconds. Once M.tb reaches the ...

Elsevier Science Inc2024

Alpha1-antitrypsin improves survival in murine abdominal sepsis model by decreasing inflammation and sequestration of free heme

Florian Maria Wurm

Background Excessive inflammation, hemolysis, and accumulation of labile heme play an essential role in the pathophysiology of multi-organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) in sepsis. Alpha1-antitrypsin (AAT), an acute phase protein with heme binding capacity, i ...

Frontiers Media Sa2024

Accessible and highly observable gastrointestinal organoid model systems for studying host-pathogen interactions

Moritz Hofer

Traditional cell cultures have long been fundamental to biological research, offering an alternative to animal models burdened by ethical constraints and procedural intricacies, often lacking relevance to human physiology and disease. Moreover, their inabi ...

EPFL2024

Multimodal transcriptomic atlases of mouse spinal cord injury

Matthieu Pierre Gautier

A spinal cord injury (SCI) triggers a cascade of molecular and cellular responses involving inflammatory cell infiltration and cytokine release, apoptosis, demyelination, excitotoxicity, ischemia, and the formation of a fibrotic scar surrounded by an astro ...

EPFL2024

Computational drug development for membrane protein targets

Henning Paul-Julius Stahlberg, Pierre Vogel, Shuguang Yuan, Dongchun Ni, Babatunde Edukpe Ekundayo

The application of computational biology in drug development for membrane protein targets has experienced a boost from recent developments in deep learning-driven structure prediction, increased speed and resolution of structure elucidation, machine learni ...

2024

Microfluidic systems for infectious disease diagnostics

Thomas Lehnert, Martinus Gijs

Microorganisms, encompassing both uni- and multicellular entities, exhibit remarkable diversity as omnipresent life forms in nature. They play a pivotal role by supplying essential components for sustaining biological processes across diverse ecosystems, i ...

Royal Soc Chemistry2024

S-acylation and lipid exchange at the ER-Golgi membrane contact sites regulate pathogen entry in human cells

Muhammad Umair Anwar

Cells have evolved endocytic pathways to internalize different molecules, to regulate intra-cellular communication and their interaction with external environment. Pathogens have co-evolved with cells to exploit these processes for infections. In particula ...

EPFL2024

A common NFKB1 variant detected through antibody analysis in UK Biobank predicts risk of infection and allergy

Jacques Fellay, Flavia Aurelia Shoko Hodel

Infectious agents contribute significantly to the global burden of diseases through both acute infection and their chronic sequelae. We leveraged the UK Biobank to identify genetic loci that influence humoral immune response to multiple infections. From 45 ...

2024

Unlocking Hidden Potential: Exploring the Complexities of Signaling in Immune Cell Activation to Optimize CAR Therapy

Mathieu Girardin

Chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) are synthetic, transmembrane proteins that trigger immune cell signaling following their engagement. They have been first utilized in T cells and later in natural killer (NK) cells to redirect their cytotoxicity toward a s ...

EPFL2023

Exploring the interplay of molecular pattern and valency for selective interactions at the bio-interface

Kaltrina Paloja

Cell-cell communication is fundamental for immune balance. Multivalent interactions of surface receptors at immune interfaces drive specific communication, with stimulatory and inhibitory signals guiding the immune outcome. Notably, the valency, affinity, ...

EPFL2023

Back-to-Africa introductions of Mycobacterium tuberculosis as the main cause of tuberculosis in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Jacques Fellay, Zhi Ming Xu

In settings with high tuberculosis (TB) endemicity, distinct genotypes of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) often differ in prevalence. However, the factors leading to these differences remain poorly understood. Here we studied the MTBC populat ...

PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE2023

Investigating the composition and recruitment of the mycobacterial ImuA'-ImuB-DnaE2 mutasome

John McKinney, Neeraj Dhar, Zela Alexandria-Mae Martin

A DNA damage-inducible mutagenic gene cassette has been implicated in the emergence of drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis during anti-tuberculosis (TB) chemotherapy. However, the molecular composition and operation of the encoded 'mycobacterial ...

Elife Sciences Publ Ltd2023

Development of a novel Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) for its use in Natural Killer (NK) cells for cancer treatment and beyond

Angela Madurga Alonso

The use of CAR technologies has revolutionized cancer treatment. Their unprecedented efficacy against B cell malignancies has opened the doors for a lot of excitement and research in the field. These synthetic receptors are composed of an antigen recogniti ...

EPFL2023

Direct In Vivo Activation of T Cells with Nanosized Immunofilaments Inhibits Tumor Growth and Metastasis

Bart Deplancke, Jorieke Weiden, Guido Van Mierlo

Adoptive T cell therapyhas successfully been implementedfor thetreatment of cancer. Nevertheless, ex vivo expansion of T cells byartificial antigen-presenting cells (aAPCs) remains cumbersome andcan compromise T cell functionality, thereby limiting their t ...

AMER CHEMICAL SOC2023

Host-Pathogen Interactions Through the Genomic Lens

Zhi Ming Xu

Hosts and pathogens are involved in a long-standing evolutionary arms race characterized by successive rounds of evolution. Specifically, while hosts evolve resistance against infections, pathogens adapt to re-establish virulence. Since the signatures of t ...

EPFL2023

Machine learning predictions of MHC-II specificities reveal alternative binding mode of class II epitopes

Julien Racle, David Gfeller, Philippe Guillaume Coune, Florence Pojer, Marta Andreia Da Silva Perez, George Coukos, Kelvin Ka Ching Lau, Amédé Noredine Larabi, Alexandre Harari

CD4+T cells orchestrate the adaptive immune response against pathogens and cancer by recognizing epitopes presented on class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC-II) molecules. The high polymorphism of MHC-II genes represents an important hurdle toward ...

CELL PRESS2023

Investigating the effect of inflammation on the progression of B-cell lymphoma dissemination in the sentinel lymph node

Daniel Molina Romero

Lymphomas are a group of heterogeneous blood cancers that arise from lymphocytes. The two primary clinical classifications of lymphomas are Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL), and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). In particular, B-cell lymphoma refers to the malignancies ...

EPFL2023

Multivalent Virucidal Antivirals: Synthesis, Mechanisms of Action, and Immune-stimulating Effects

Yong Zhu

Viruses initiate invasion by binding to cell surface glycoproteins. Materials mimicking the carbohydrate motifs of these glycoproteins, such as heparan sulfate (HS) and sialic acid (SA) can block viral attachment and inhibit the infection. Multivalent disp ...

EPFL2023