ONLINE - PhD Mid-term Seminar Series: Nanomechanics of Microbial Infections: Towards Mechanopharmacology
CIC nanoGUNE Seminars
- Speaker
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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
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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.
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