Infinity war: Trichomonas vaginalis and interactions with host immune response

March 31, 2023

Trichomonas vaginalis is the pathological agent of human trichomoniasis with an incidence of 156 million cases worldwide. This review highlights parasite strategies to activate and stimulate or evade variated and complex immunological mechanisms related to the symptoms and clinical complications observed here.

Digesting the crisis: autophagy and coronaviruses

May 4, 2020

This article reviews the multifaceted role of autophagy in antiviral defense and highlights how coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, interact with this pathway, raising the possibility that targeting autophagy could offer novel therapeutic strategies against COVID-19.

Chlamydia pneumoniae is present in the dental plaque of periodontitis patients and stimulates an inflammatory response in gingival epithelial cells

March 11, 2019

This study found that Chlamydia pneumoniae is present more frequently in the dental plaque of individuals with periodontal disease, can invade human gingival epithelial cells causing inflammatory responses, and may therefore be a contributing factor to periodontal disease and a potential indicator of risk.

Threading Granules in Freiburg: 2nd International Symposium on “One Mitochondrion, Many Diseases – Biological and Molecular Perspectives”, a FRIAS Junior Researcher Conference, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, March 9th/10th, 2016

November 4, 2016

INTRODUCTION Mitochondria (greek: μίτος & χονδρίον, mitos & chondrion, i.e., thread & granule) are the power houses of eukaryotic cells, and are pivotally involved in essential metabolic processes, including iron/sulfur cluster and heme ... Read more

Bacterial genotoxin functions as immune-modulator and promotes host survival

July 28, 2016

This article comments on work published by Del Bel Belluz et al. (PLoS Pathog, 2016), which demonstrated that the typhoid toxin of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi esembles an immune-modulatory molecule rather than a toxic agent.

Entamoeba histolytica – tumor necrosis factor: a fatal attraction

July 6, 2015

This article comments on the study "In Entamoeba histolytica, a BspA family protein is required for chemotaxis toward tumour necrosis factor" by Silvestre et al. (Microbial Cell, 2015).

Struggling for breath in Sherbrooke: 1st Symposium on “One mitochondrion, many diseases” in Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada, March 11th, 2015

May 20, 2015

This meeting report summarizes discussions during the "1st symposium on “One mitochondrion, many diseases," which took place in Sherbrooke in southern Québec in 2015.