
Molecular Mechanisms of Bacterial Virulence
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Presented By
Presented by the Microbiology Section
Speaker: Erec Stebbins, Rockefeller University
Bacterial pathogens that have extensively co-evolved with their hosts display remarkably sophisticated adaptations, often culminating in intricate biochemical interactions between the microbe and eukaryotic cells. Bacterial virulence factors and toxins are now known to manipulate diverse host cellular processes for the benefit of the microbe. In this lecture, specific examples of bacterial modulation of host cytoskeletal structure, programmed cell death, and cell cycle progression will be presented. The molecular mechanisms of these events will be revealed through an examination of the crystallographic structures of several bacterial virulence factors.