Professor David Holden FMed Sci FRS from the  MRC Centre for Molecular Bacteriology and Infection, Imperial College London, will give the opening talk of the 2017 CBCB Symposium.

Title: Immune Interference by Salmonella

Abstract: Following entry of Salmonella into host cells, this pathogen replicates in a membrane-bound compartment called the Salmonella-containing vacuole (SCV). Bacteria respond to nutritional deprivation and the acidic pH of the vacuole lumen by activating the expression of the SPI-2 type III secretion system (T3SS). After assembly of the translocon in the vacuole membrane, bacteria sense the near-neutral pH of the host cell cytoplasm, which triggers the translocation of bacterial virulence proteins (effectors) into the host cell.

At least 28 different effectors are translocated by the SPI-2 T3SS. These have been implicated in several physiological activities, including the control of SCV positioning within the host cell, maintenance of vacuole membrane integrity, bacterial replication, interference with lysosome function and innate immune signaling. I will discuss these and recent progress on an effector that suppresses the development of adaptive immunity.

David Holden is Director of the MRC Centre for Molecular Bacteriology and Infection and Regius Professor of Infectious Diseases at Imperial College London. In 1995, Holden invented signature-tagged mutagenesis (also termed barcoding) for genome-wide mutant screens. Using this, his group discovered the SPI-2 type III secretion system of Salmonella, and his subsequent research has been devoted to understanding the many functions of this virulence system. Holden is a Fellow of the Royal Society, the American Academy of Microbiology, the Academy of Medical Sciences (UK), and an EMBO Member.     

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