Innate immune mechanisms and modulation during Salmonella infection (360G-Wellcome-102410_Z_13_Z)

This work will investigate the complex host-pathogen interactions occurring during Salmonella infection with a focus on innate immune modulation. Salmonella translocates approximately 30 effector proteins into the cytosol of host immune cells to modulate its intracellular environment. The precise function, biochemical activity, kinetics of translocation and hosttargets are poorly characterized for the majority of effectors. This project aims to identify further effectors that modulate host immune signaling with a focus on NFKB signaling. This is a key pathway involved in cytokine / chemokine induction and cell death via apoptosis modulation during Salmonella infection. By studying bacterial-mediated modulation of immune signaling we hope to assign function to uncharacterized effectors as well as understand more about the functions of the host immune response.