PRBB-CRG Sessions Francis Impens

21/06/202412:00MARIE CURIEPRBB-CRG SessionsFrancis ImpensVIB & Ghent University"Host-bacteria proteomics: from antibacterial PTMs to vaccine development"Host: Eduard SabidóAbstract:The Impens lab at VIB & Ghent University, Belgium, aims to better understand the fundamental principles of host-bacteria interactions using innovative mass spectrometry (MS)-based approaches. Using Listeria monocytogenes as an intracellular bacterial model pathogen, the seminar will cover the lab’s progress to characterize protein modification by ISG15 and to develop mRNA vaccines against bacterial pathogens. ISG15 is a ubiquitin-like modification of the immune system that counteracts infection, but the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. The group employs MS-based technologies to identify (covalent) substrates and conjugation sites of ISG15 and (non-covalent) interaction partners that led to the discovery of the first cellular sensor for ISG15. In addition, our pipeline for next-generation bacterial vaccine development will be presented, leveraging the MS-based identification of antigenic peptides to develop much needed vaccines against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.