doi: 10.4161/viru.25858.
Epub 2013 Aug 12.
Virulence profile: Alejandro Aballay
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- PMID: 23959030
- PMCID: PMC3906298
- DOI: 10.4161/viru.25858
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Virulence profile: Alejandro Aballay
Virulence.
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No abstract available
Keywords: C. elegans; host–pathogen interactions; neurons.
Figures
Studies in the primitive nematode Caenorhabditis elegans demonstrate that ancient components of the innate immune system protect host cells from invading microorganisms. The picture shows a nematode infected with Salmonella enterica expressing GFP immersed in an image of an Inca warrior seeking the healing powers of waters in “Puente del Inca” (Bridge of the Inca) to fight pests. Artwork is by Julie Newdoll (http://www.brushwithscience.com/ ).
About Dr Alejandro Aballay. Dr Alejandro Aballay earned his bachelor degree in Pharmacy from Juan A. Maza University, in Mendoza, Argentina, in 1994. He finished his MS equivalent studies in 1995 and started exploring the machinery that governs early steps in endocytosis at Nacional de Cuyo University. During this period, he received a World Bank fellowship to complement his studies in endocytosis by working as a summer student for two consecutive years at Washington University, in St. Louis, MO. In 1998, he earned his PhD at Nacional de Cuyo University and moved to St. Louis to continue his studies in endocytosis at Washington University. In 1999, Dr. Aballay moved to Boston to join the Ausubel laboratory at Harvard Medical School, where he developed a novel pathogenesis system utilizing the simple well-studied nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and the common human bacterial pathogen Salmonella enterica. He showed that several well-studied S. enterica virulence factors required for causing disease in mammalian hosts are also required for C. elegans killing, thereby validating the use of C. elegans as a host to model Salmonella infection in mammals, including humans. In 2002, Dr Aballay moved to Durham to join the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at Duke University, where his studies focus on what makes bacteria pathogenic and hosts resistant. His laboratory takes advantage of the compromise between complexity and tractability of the C. elegans–S. enterica pathogenesis model. C. elegans is used as a host to screen thousands of bacterial clones from mutagenized libraries to identify novel Salmonella virulence factors and to address how they alter host signaling pathways. Since several components of innate immunity are conserved among different organisms throughout evolution, his group is also exploiting the genetic and genomic resources available for C. elegans to study the basis of the immune response. Dr Aballay was a recipient of the 2005 ICAAC Young Investigator Award. He also serves as an editor for the journal PLoS One and is a member of the editorial board for Virulence.
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