Cytoskeleton: At the Heart of Pathogen Invasion and Host Manipulation
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Microbiology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2021) | Viewed by 11181
Special Issue Editors
Interests: Most biological processes are governed by macromolecular complexes of defined composition and organization, which perform specific functions acting as molecular ensembles. Understanding a biological process is essentially an interpretation of the cross-talk between its various components. My main scientific interest lies in deciphering the structural and molecular mechanisms underlying protein–protein interactions involved in complex cellular processes. Microtubules are the major eukaryotic cytoskeletal elements which organize mitotic spindle during cell division and form the core of cellular organelles like centrioles and cilia/flagella. I am currently using biophysical, biochemical and structural methods to understand how microtubule associated proteins and drugs regulate microtubule structure and properties.
Interests: Microtubules are dynamic filaments composed of -tubulin and implicated in a wide range of cellular processes. They are involved in the organization of intracellular structures and in the intracellular transport, drive chromosome segregation during cell division, influence cell polarity and morphogenesis, and form the core of cilia and flagella. Centrioles are evolutionary conserved, barrel-shaped structures made up of nine sets of microtubule triplets and are fundamental for the assembly of cilia and flagella. Structural or functional centriole aberrations are associated with ciliopathies, a variety of complex diseases that stem from the absence or the dysfunction of cilia. Understanding centriole assembly and architecture is a prerequisite in order to better understand human diseases related to centriole aberrations. I use structural biology techniques (X-ray crystallography, serial crystallography at the synchrotron, electron microscopy) in combination with biophysical, biochemical and cell biology approaches to elucidate the molecular mechanisms involved in centriole/basal body biogenesis and structure
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
A wide diversity of pathogens belonging to bacteria, fungi, protozoa, worms, and viruses infect and kill hundreds of thousands of humans every year. As highlighted by the recent and unprecedented pandemic our world is experiencing, pathogens directly impact our economy, food security, and public health. In this context, a better understanding of the pathways involved in pathogen invasion and replication within the host are urgently sought for developing effective intervention strategies.
The cytoskeleton is a dynamic system of interlinked protein filaments present in all living cells. In addition to being a key cellular component for the structure and the replication of pathogens, their cytoskeleton also plays a fundamental role in the host cell invasion process. Several cytoskeletal structures have evolved so as to give rise to highly sophisticated pathogen invasion machineries for host cell traversal. It is worth noting that remodeling and manipulating the host cytoskeleton for their intracellular survival and replication is a common theme shared by many pathogens. As an example, viruses which do not have their own conventional actin or microtubule-based cytoskeleton hijack their host cytoskeleton machinery for their intracellular motility.
In this Special Issue of the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, we are inviting articles and reviews which address the multiple and diverse aspects of the role of pathogens and host cytoskeletons in the process of pathogenicity. We wish to compile and present the latest scientific advances covering a broad range of resolution scales and techniques highlighting the remarkable features of the cytoskeleton in the biology and pathogenicity of diverse classes of human pathogens.
Dr. Ashwani Sharma
Dr. Natacha Gaillard
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- cytoskeleton remodeling
- actin
- microtubules
- intermediate filaments
- viruses
- bacteria
- protozoa
- apicomplexa
- parasites
- worms
- pathogens
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