Studying ubiquitin signaling through the lens of pathogenic bacteria

A healthy immune response to infection requires rapid and robust post-translational ubiquitin signaling following pathogen detection. Unfortunately, pathogenic bacteria have evolved secreted effector proteins that redirect, inhibit, or eliminate host ubiquitin signaling events inorder to facilitate invasion, replication, and persistence. Our research aims at identifying novel ubiquitin-targeted effectors among human pathogens, characterizing their target specificity and mechanism of action, and evaluating their contribution to infection and disease. I will present our latest findings that demonstrate the remarkable strategies employed by bacteria to subvert host signaling, and highlight how studying these effectors can shed light on both host and microbe biology.