Isabelle Derré, PhD
Isabelle Derré, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology, was awarded a new five-year $3.6 million grant from the NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for a project titled, “Host lipid acquisition and maintenance of the Chlamydia replicative niche.”
Chlamydia trachomatis is the leading cause of bacterial sexually transmitted infections. No vaccine is currently available. Infections are often asymptomatic, allowing the bacterium to replicate undetected, while damaging reproductive organs. These complications can pose serious risks to women’s reproductive health, including pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy, and infertility.
In this new project, Dr. Derré and her team will study the role of a Chlamydia protein that maintains the stability of the Chlamydia-containing vacuole by facilitating the acquisition of host lipids, creating a membrane barrier that allows the bacterium to persist and evade detection.
Using a multidisciplinary approach, results from these studies will help to further define the fundamental biological mechanisms by which Chlamydia survives and causes disease, while highlighting pathogen-specific targets for potential therapeutics or vaccines.
Filed Under: Research