[SCAN ITQB Alumni] The role of Toll signaling and fucosylation in regulating host physiology

SCAN ITQB Alumni

Title: The role of Toll signaling and fucosylation in regulating host physiology

Speaker: Magda Atilano

Affiliation: Dept. Biochemistry, Univ. Oxford

Abstract:

The effects on a host following pathogen invasion are complex, for example, there are considerable physiological changes. These range from alterations to lipid and glycogen stores, which relate to energy usage, enhanced production of reaction oxygen species, and stimulation of stem cell proliferation. I am using a relevant model organism – D. melanogaster – to elucidate mechanisms of tissue cross-talk, following infection, and how this modulates physiology in relation to host defence. The major innate immune pathways of D. melanogaster are Toll and IMD, where current research with regards to physiology focuses on the latter. Here, I demonstrate a role for the Toll-pathway in regulating stem cell numbers, and thus gut homeostasis, and a potential interaction with fucosylation.

Magda Atilano did her PhD at ITQB NOVA Sérgio Filipe Lab. Her thesis, entitled “Bacterial peptidoglycan biosynthesis and recognition by the innate immune system”, focused on specific bacterial cell wall components and their role in the infection process. The PhD thesis public discussion took place in June 2012 and won the award of Best ITQB PhD Thesis 2012, ex-aequo with Cláudia Queiroga.

Magda is now a pos-doctoral Fellow at Oxford University.