Award details

Importance of the intracellular energy metabolism of S. Typhimurium within epithelial cells and macrophages

Reference	BBS/E/F/00042633
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Dr Arthur Thompson
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors	Dr Francis Mulholland
Institution	Quadram Institute Bioscience
Department	Quadram Institute Bioscience Department
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	129,500
Status	Completed
Type	Institute Project
Start date	01/02/2012
End date	31/01/2015
Duration	36 months

Abstract

According to the latest European Food Standard Agency (EFSA) statistics (2008), Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) is the second most reported zoonotic infection in humans and the most frequent cause of food borne outbreaks in the EU. Worldwide Salmonella is responsible for up to 800,000 deaths from contaminated food and water. Following ingestion Salmonella bacteria travel to the intestine where they invade the cells lining the gut wall (epithelial cells), causing bloody diarrhoea. In the case of systemic infections (caused by S. Typhi and S. Paratyphi in humans), Salmonella invade the immune cells which are responsible for fighting infection (macrophages). In order to grow and survive within host cells, Salmonella must also have a route for generating the energy required for these processes. Together with other evidence from our research, and published data, it seems likely that S. Typhimurium generates energy via different mechanisms in macrophages compared to epithelial cells. One of the aims of this proposal is to differentiate between these alternative energy generating pathways in macrophages and epithelial cells using a combination of mutational, enzymatic and mass spectrometry approaches. Such information may facilitate therapeutic interventions. One of the major questions in infection biology is the extent to which the host cell contributes to the intracellular growth of Salmonella. We will use cutting edge techniques such as stable-isotope labelling of amino acids in cell culture (SILAC) to determine the contribution of amino acids derived from host proteins and peptides to the intracellular growth of Salmonella in infected epithelial cells and macrophages. If Salmonella is dependent on the host for some of its requirements to enable intracellular growth, then this may also represent a way to facilitate therapeutic intervention.

Summary

unavailable

Committee	Not funded via Committee
Research Topics	Microbial Food Safety, Microbiology
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	X - not in an Initiative
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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