Glucosidases as effectors of intracellular killing of bacteria in Dictyostelium discoideum

Ingestion and killing of bacteria by phagocytic cells protect the human body against infections. While many mechanisms have been proposed to account for bacterial killing in phagosomes, their relative importance, redundancy, specificity remain unclear. The general aim of our laboratory is to understand how phagocytic cells kill bacteria using Dictyostelium discoideum amoeba as a model phagocytic cell.

Following a proteomic analysis, new putative effectors of intracellular killing of bacteria have been identified. My PhD project focuses on the study of one of these effectors, a glucosidase that plays a role in the destruction of Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteria.