Host-Pathogen Interactions

Welcome to Professor Beth Stadtmueller

2021-01-20

Professor Stadtmueller was one of ten new faculty hires made in the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology in the last three years. Stadtmueller is an assistant professor of biochemistry, assistant professor of Biomedical and Translational Sciences with the Carle Illinois College of Medicine, and...

Welcome to Professor Joe Sanfilippo

2021-01-20

Professor Sanfilippo was one of ten new faculty hires made in the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology in the last three years. Sanfilippo is an assistant professor of biochemistry.

New study explores complex phage-host interactions in human gut

2020-10-20

Chart depicting phage-bacteria-mammal relationships.

Danielle Campbell, a microbiology PhD graduate of the Whitaker Lab, recently studied the interaction of the active prophage, Bacteroides phage BV01, in its tractable host strain, B. vulgatus ATCC 8482. Bacteroides, known to degrade complex carbohydrates and interact with host immune cells, are one...

Bacteria show their metal: An evolutionary path to survival

2020-06-04

An investigation of two closely related proteins from a pathogenic bacterium has illustrated for the first time how evolution can shape the use of essential metals by enzymes.

“Intracellular accumulation of staphylopine can sensitize Staphylococcus aureus to host-imposed zinc starvation by chelation-independent toxicity”

2020-04-01

Staphylococcus aureus is an antibiotic-resistant pathogen labelled as a “serious threat to human health” by the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control. This bacteria is also the subject of a recent paper published by the laboratory of Dr. Thomas Kehl-Fie, Assistant Professor...

Blanke Lab: Disease-causing stomach bug attacks energy generation in host cells

2018-05-30

Researchers report in a new study that the bacterium Helicobacter pylori – a major contributor to gastritis, ulcers and stomach cancer – resists the body’s immune defenses by shutting down energy production within the cells of the stomach lining that serve as a barrier to infection.