Hervé Le Moual

Biography

Division:  Faculty Members Branch:  Microbiology Location:  Lyman Duff Medical Building

Research Interest

 Bacterial Resistance to Host Antimicrobial Peptides. Research in my laboratory focuses on elucidating the mechanisms that Gram-negative bacterial pathogens evolved to resist host antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). AMPs are natural effectors of the innate immune system. By acting as endogenous antibiotics, they defend the host against microorganisms. Bacterial pathogens have developed various mechanisms to resist killing by AMPs.  In Gram-negative bacteria, these resistance mechanisms include the degradation of AMPs by outer-membrane proteases, the export of AMPs by efflux pumps and the remodeling of the lipopolysaccharide layer.  My laboratory studies resistance to AMPs in enteric pathogens such as Salmonella enterica, Citrobacter rodentium, enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) and enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC). The goal of this research is to validate protein targets for therapeutic intervention.