ONLINE - PhD Mid-term Seminar Series: Nanomechanics of Microbial Infections: Towards Mechanopharmacology

CIC nanoGUNE Seminars

Speaker

Antonio Reifs, Nanobiotechnology Group

When

2020/09/21
13:00

Place

nanoGUNE online Webinar

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** ** **Nanomechanics of Microbial Infections: Towards Mechanopharmacology ** Antonio Reifs Nanobiotechnology Group, CIC nanoGUNE **** Microbial infections are one of the leading cause of death worldwide. Causing diseases such as pneumonia, tuberculosis and cholera Futhermore, emerging antibiotic resistant bacteria strains have been isolated, being the cause of thousands of deaths every year. It is a global concenrn to develop novel treatments against this microorganisms. In this context, mechanomedicine is an emerging field, which studies how mechanical forces affect the structure and properties of cells and proteins such as membrane receptors and how this is related to diseases. In this research, we study two different infection mechanisms at a mechanical level. On the one hand, the bacteria Yersinia pestis and on the other hand, the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus. The mechanical interest of both systems are very different. Yersinia pestis is covered by a protein polymer with antiadhesion properties and a high stiffness, that allow this bacteria to evade the inmune system response. Meanwhile Staphylococcus aureus own more than 15 different proteins in its membrane called cell wall anchored proteins (CWA), which confer to this bacteria the capability to attach to diverse surfaces, such as cell membrane from many different tissues and also to the surface of different material like prostetics heart valve. We studied the mechanical arquitecture of caf-1 polymer from Yersinia pestis. This protein performs a high mechanical stability, unfolding under mechanical forces of approximately 400 pN. When a puntual mutation was introduced into a mechanical critical region, the stability decreases in a 20% being enough to affect the engulfment process losing its evasion capacity from macrophages. We also are studying the attachement process of bacteria Staphylococcus aureus to different surfaces.We become to study the protein clumpling factor A (clfa) which binds to fibrinogen present in the extracellular matrix of different tissues. We are studying this attachment at a molecular level but also at a celular level. Making use of the atomic force spectroscopy (AFS) technique but also an approach based on magnetic tweezers. \---------- Please **REGISTER** for PhD Mid-term Seminar Series on Sep 21, 2020 11:00 AM CEST at: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6831653181103747084 After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. Thank you very much for your participation!