Position : group leader TEAM: Pathogènes Eucaryotes: Inflammation, Immunité lymphocytaire T et Chimiorésistance (EPIIC)-Institut Toulousain des Maladies Infectieuses et Inflammatoires-Infinity TEL: 05-62-74-83-07
Expertise
parasites, host-pathogen, immune modulation
Eukaryotic intracellular parasites : immunity and chemoresistance (eipic)
The team projects cover two main topics: 1/ T cell immunity and immune modulation during T. gondii and Plasmodium parasitic infections 2/ spreading patterns and mechanisms of malaria chemoresistance
Three specific aims are directly in relation to the interests of the ‘club macrophages’:
To decipher the biogenesis and functions of tubular deformations at the host-parasite interface in T. gondii-infected dendritic cells and macrophages
To assess the role of brain-resident antigen-presenting cells (including microglia) during chronic cerebral toxoplasmosis
To analyze the implication of dendritic cells and macrophages in the immune modulation elicited by Plasmodium parasites during blood stage malaria
Animal and cellular models:
Culture of mouse macrophage and dendritic cell lines (RAW, J774, DC2.4, MutuDC, JAWs)
Mouse models of infection by intracellular parasites causing brain inflammation (Toxoplasma gondii, toxoplasmosis) or brain endothelial damage and oedema (Plasmodium berghei, blood stage cerebral malaria)
Techniques and methods:
Generation of mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages and dendritic cells Lentiviral transduction for shRNA silencing Flow cytometry analysis of splenic dendritic cell subsets In vitro and ex vivo antigen presentation assays