José E. Soto, Ph.D.

Sections

José E. Soto, Ph.D.
Title
Postdoctoral Fellow
Department
Microbial Pathogenesis
Institution
Yale University
Address
295 Congress Ave
City, State, ZIP
New Haven, CT 06536
Country
United States
Phone
(203) 737-2404
Email
[email protected]
Website
http://galanlab.com/
Research field
Microbiology
Award year
2017
Country of origin
Mexico
Mentor name
Jorge Galán, V.M.D., Ph.D.

Research

The Galán lab studies the structure and function of the bacterial injectisome, a molecular machine that allows infectious bacteria to inject virulence proteins into a host cell. A variety of disease-causing microbes—responsible for everything from pneumonia to the plague—make use of this multiprotein complex that acts as a syringe through which they inject toxins that manipulate host cell systems. Key to the assembly and operation of this complex machine is a structure called the “sorting platform,” which directs the addition of the “needle” to the syringe and determines the order in which bacterial proteins will pass through it. I will study the three-dimensional architecture of the sorting platform from Salmonella typhimurium, the bacterium that can cause gastroenteritis, and assess how its structure changes during the course of infection. These findings could provide additional detail on the initial steps of pathogenesis and lead to novel strategies for the treatment of a variety of infections.

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