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Members
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Research goals
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The research unit will be devoted to discovering a multitude of molecular and cellular mechanisms of action of bacterial protein toxins of interest, particularly the cytolytic pore-forming toxins, e.g. ?-endotoxins (Cry4Aa & Cry4Ba) from Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis (biopesticide against human disease vactors), adenylate cyclase-hemolysin toxin (cyaA) from Bordetella purtussis (human pathogen causing whooping cough) and vacuolating cytotoxin (Vac) from Helicobacter pylori (gastric pathogen causing peptic ulcer and stomach cancer).
Although knowledge on molecular mechanism of how these toxins function has increased substantially over the last decade, very little in known about the detailed structures of the toxin-induced pores. Our research goals will therefore focus on the structures basis of membrane-pore formation by individual toxins. Their pore-forming structures within the lipid membrane could lead to more critical insights into the actual underlying mechanisms of the toxic process. Detailed structural understandings will bolster the application of promising engineered protein-based biopesticides in control of such disease vectors or will pave the way for designing potential therapeutics that block the toxin mediated pathogenicity to target-human cells.
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Research 
