”Mycobacteria have a very impermeable cell wall, which makes transport in and out of the cell, but also the treatment of these bacteria with antibiotics, very difficult. By visualizing T7SSs in intact bacteria, we will understand how these molecular machines can transport proteins through this impenetrable cell wall.
Edith HoubenDepartment of A-Life, Molecular Microbiology
A team led by microbiologist Edith Houben at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam has secured an ERC Synergy Grant, worth over €10 million, to study tuberculosis bacterium’s type VII secretion systems (T7SSs). T7SSs are molecular machines that help pathogenic mycobacteria, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacteria causing TB, to infect humans and to compete with other bacteria. Despite their critical role in mycobacterial diseases, the mechanisms behind T7SSs are not well understood.
Previous breakthroughs of the team, which includes experts from the Center for Structural Systems Biology in Hamburg, Newcastle University and EPFL, were solving the high-resolution structure of a T7SS and identifying their roles in immune evasion and bacterial toxicity. With the Synergy Grant, they will use electron and atomic force microscopy to visualize T7SSs in intact bacteria and study how T7SSs kill host and competing bacteria in advanced microtissue models that mimic the lung environment. This work will further knowledge of TB’s physiology and virulence and could lead to innovative TB treatments by exploiting T7SSs.
ERC Synergy Grants, the largest awards from the ERC, are given to collaborative teams to advance research that individual investigators could not tackle alone. These grants promote groundbreaking work across disciplines, fostering new methods and insights into complex scientific challenges.
Well done Edith and team. We look forward to seeing where these collaborations take your research!
