Host-Pathogen Interactions

How do bacteria become resistant to antibiotics?

2025-10-13

A smiling woman standing in front of a bookshelf wearing a blue shirt and scarf

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the deadly drug-resistant bacteria NDM-CRE found a 70% rise in infections in the U.S. between 2019 and 2023. Also known as “nightmare bacteria,” NDM-CRE has few...

Structural study of mucosal antibody reveals unexpected host-pathogen interactions

2024-01-23

Researchers in conversation in a biochemistry lab

Secretory Immunoglobulin A (SIgA), the predominant human mucosal antibody, can bind to bacterial surface proteins and trigger an immune response to...

“Buckle up and hold on tight!” Study discovers how bacterial pathogens stick to surfaces better when they encounter fluid flow

2023-10-20

Headshots of researchers Joe Sanfilippo (left) and Jessica Palalay

Host tissues and medical devices are ideal surfaces for bacterial pathogens to colonize and infect. Fluid flow is thought to flush bacteria off these surfaces, but University of Illinois researchers have found that some bacteria can strengthen their adhesion to the surface when flow is applied. In...

New research challenges longstanding assumptions of evolutionary metal preferences

2023-05-08

Thomas Kehl-Fie, a professor of microbiology in the School of Molecular & Cellular Biology, and collaborator Kevin Waldron, a professor at the Institute of Biochemistry & Biophysics in Warsaw, Poland, have found that have found that in response to the immune system restricting metal...

Context matters: Whitaker combines her passions for microbiology and education to better understand our world

2022-11-15

Rachel Whitaker in the Carl Woese Institute for Genomic Biology.

Microbes, human beings, and the many systems we inhabit, from farms to factories and hospitals to high schools, are all connected. Working in natural environments, research labs, and local communities, Rachel Whitaker has been...

Scientists discover a small immune system that packs a big punch

2022-08-01

A recent study by a team of researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has discovered a unique immune system in bacteria composed of a single enzyme that destroys a broad range of bacterial viruses (known as phages). Their findings were published in Cell Host & Microbe.

Machine-learning model can distinguish antibody targets

2022-04-21

Different antibodies (green, aqua, pink) attack different parts of the SARS-CoV-2 viral particle (yellow/orange sphere). The virus’s spike proteins (purple) are a key antibody target, with some antibodies attaching to the top (darker purple) and others to the stem (paler zone). Graphic by Yiquan Wang

A new study from the School of Molecular & Cellular Biology shows that it is possible to use the genetic sequences of a person’s antibodies to predict what pathogens those antibodies will target. Reported in the journal Immunity, the new approach successfully differentiates between antibodies...

Researchers characterize the function of PaeA, a protein involved in Salmonella virulence

2021-03-26

Research image courtesy of Slauch lab: Certain stresses or conditions induce production or import of putrescine and/or cadaverine. Once stress is relieved, the polyamines need to be exported via PaeA. Failure to export leads to high polyamine concentrations that are lethal under certain conditions.

The regulation of polyamines is essential for the physiological function of organisms. Simplistically, polyamines are organic cations that interact with RNA, including ribosomes and translational machinery. Both the lack of and an excess of polyamines confer lethal phenotypes, though the molecular...

Researchers examine the biological role of epigenetic regulator Brd4 in inflammasome activation

2021-02-24

Flat lay shot of three eggs in a container that can hold up to four.

Inflammasomes play a critical role in the innate cellular immune response to pathogen infection. The inflammasome, a cytosolic multiprotein complex, recognizes substrates produced during infection or tissue damage, and triggers an inflammatory response by releasing the proinflammatory cytokine IL-...

Welcome to Professor Nicholas Wu

2021-01-20

Professor Wu was one of ten new faculty hires made in the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology in the last three years. Wu is an assistant professor of and is an affiliate of the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology.

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