MOLECULAR MECHANISMS OF PHAGOCYTOSIS: HOW DO PATHOGENS SUBVERT THIS PROCESS?

• Unraveling membrane trafficking involved in the phagocytic pathway and its regulation
• How do intracellular bacteria interfere with the host phagocytic system to escape lysosomal degradation?

DO INTRACELLULAR BACTERIA COMMONLY USE SNARE-LIKE PROTEINS TO MANIPULATE THE HOST MEMBRANE FUSION?

• Screening Salmonella and Legionella genomes
• Study the inhibitory effect of potential SNARE-like bacterial proteins

CHARACTERIZATION OF EUKARYOTIC MEMBRANE FUSION MACHINERY

• Identification and characterization of primitive membrane fusion machineries (similar to SNARE proteins)
• Characterization of the specificity of fusion encoded in the SNARE proteins
• Characterization of intramolecular SNARE regulation

STUDY OF THE PHAGOCYTIC MECHANISM IN MAST CELLS, ONE OF THE MAIN PLAYERS IN ALLERGY