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Eric Brown Senior Director: Microbial Pathogenesis |
"My laboratory studies the cell biology of host-pathogen interactions. One current project is to understand the molecular pathogenesis of Mycobacterial infection of macrophages. For these studies we use Mycobacterium marinum, a pathogen closely related to M. tuberculosis, the main causative agent of human Mycobacterial disease. M. marinum, however, is of minimal danger to humans. We study bacterial secreted products that affect virulence as well as how M. marinum escapes phagosomes and polymerizes host cell actin, a property it does not share with M. tuberculosis.
A second project in the laboratory is to understand macrophage responses to infection and inflammatory signals. Currently we focus on the mechanisms by which a family of proteins called ubiquilins affect phagocytosis and subsequent fate of pathogens. We previously have shown this family to be involved in aspects of endocytosis and autophagy. My lab also studies regulation of adhesion, migration, and signal transduction through integrins, integrin-associated proteins, and other cell surface receptors involved in response to pathogen recognition."