Abstract: Series 108, Lecture 7
The Harvey Lectures Series 108 (2012—2013)
Lecture #7: Thursday, May 16, 2013 — Watch Video of Lecture
The Bacterial Pathogen Listeria monocytogenes: A Multi-Faceted Model and a Reference
Pascale Cossart, PhD
Professeur de Classe Exceptionnelle
Institut Pasteur
Paris, France
Pathogens have long co-evolved with their hosts and devised elegant strategies to hijack molecules or mechanisms critical for their host. The study of these strategies led to the discovery of amazing tricks used by pathogens during infection and to that of unsuspected mechanisms normally used by the cell. Pathogens thus appear as powerful tools in Cell Biology. We will present new concepts that have emerged from the study of Listeria monocytogenes, a food-borne bacterium which is able to invade mammalian cells and spread directly from cell to cell. Other bacteria will also be discussed.
We will first show how Listeria orchestrates its entry into cells, and will present the discovery of an unsuspected role for clathrin in actin rearrangements. We will show how septins which also control Listeria invasion, may entrap cytosolic bacteria able to move from cell-to-cell such as Shigella in a process coupled to autophagy and limiting their dissemination. Finally, we will discuss a new field of investigation, i.e. chromatin remodeling by pathogens and a new discipline “pathoepigenetics”.