Bacterial hijacking of nuclear stress responses – SNAPshot

Bacterial effector proteins manipulating host cell functions play a key role in virulence. Our consortium identified sub-nuclear associated proteins (SNAPs) translocated by the stealth bacterial pathogens Brucella abortus and Coxiella burnetii, that localize at promyelocytic leukemia nuclear bodies (PML-NB) and nucleoli and interfere with the host stress response, suggesting that this pathway plays a relevant role in infection. Indeed, nucleoli and PML-NB are essential for maintaining cellular homeostasis. Together, they coordinate the cellular abiotic stress response by modulating transcription and sequestering proteins away from their site of action. Emerging evidence suggest that nucleoli and PML-NBs can also mount a cellular response against viral and bacterial infections. With this project we aim at thoroughly characterizing the nuclear response to bacterial infection and investigate how bacterial effector proteins co-opt this cellular mechanism.