Bacteria microarrays for exploring pathogen-host interactions

Miércoles 8 de abril

Salón de actos, 12:00

Bacteria microarrays for exploring pathogen-host interactions

Miércoles 8 de abril

Salón de actos, 12:00

        Salient roles of microbial glycans in interaction with the host are just emerging. Several carbohydrate microarray platforms are being applied to biomedically relevant systems that operate through oligosaccharide recognition. However, their potential for exploring pathogen-host interactions is limited because they are largely based on mammalian glycan structures, whereas bacteria contain unique carbohydrate structures that are not found in the mammalian glycome. As a result, only partial information can be obtained following interrogation of host (mammalian) receptors that recognize potential pathogens. In addition, the particular presentation of the probes in the array may substantially differ from their natural arrangement on the pathogen’s surface, this factor potentially having a significant impact on recognition.
                To overcome these limitations, we have developed a novel application of the microarray technology based on the generation and validation of bacteria microarrays, thus ensuring the presence in the array of the surface molecule acting as in vivo receptor/ligand. This technology can be applied to the screening of any type of pathogen-binding biomolecule, e.g. antibodies, endogenous counter-receptors or lectins. In this talk, I will present the essentials of this novel methodology and examples of applications, using Klebsiella pneumoniae as model human pathogen. The results illustrate the potential of bacteria microarrays for investigating the diversity of interactions occurring between pathogens and host cells during infection.