Speaker: Professor Thomas C. Marlovits
Professor and Director, ERC Investigator, Institute of Microbial and Molecular Sciences @ University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany 

Institute for Microbial and Molecular Sciences  

Title: Architecture of Infection: Structural view of bacterial infection pathways and molecular basis of targeted therapeutics

What are the structural requirements for bacteria to successfully infect human cells, and which molecular mechanisms drive this process? In Gram-negative bacteria, sophisticated molecular nanomachines pave the way for infection by delivering bacterial effectors directly into host cells. I will discuss our recent progress in obtaining high-resolution structural insights by cryo-electron microscopy into key stages of infection — from effector delivery and their fate within infected cells to the mechanisms by which the human immune system neutralizes bacterial infection in patients. Our molecular-level view of the interplay between a pathogen and a host may lay the ground for conceptual advances to understand infection processes and novel avenues for therapeutic intervention.