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We have a general interest in naturally-occurring or investigator-designed nanoscale vesicles that act as transporters for delivery of molecules to cells. In gram negative bacteria, outer membrane vesicles (OMV) that bud off of the bacterial surface have been implicated in such activities as horizontal gene transfer, the transport of virulence factors and the development of biofilms in human diseases such as cystic fibrosis. In eukaryotes, secreted exosome vesicles have recently been shown to transport effectors and signaling molecules such as small RNAs to other cells. Synthetic nanoscale liposomal vesicles have also been designed to mediate delivery of biotherapeutics to target disease cells. We plan to pursue collaborative research to:
A) understand the role of certain naturally-occurring small vesicles in their biological context, including compositional analysis and testing membrane fusion activity with natural targets, B) re-engineer these vesicles for delivery purposes and C) use the bottom-up approach to design and test liposomal delivery systems.
One focus of this work will be to characterize the OMV of the bacterium Lysobacter enzymogenes, an organism used in the biocontrol of plant diseases. We put forth the hypothesis that OMV may be involved in the fusogenic delivery of biocontrol factors to target organisms, such as pathogenic fungi.
These projects involve many different technical approaches and can be rich in learning opportunities for the student.
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