Dr. Seveau’s laboratory focuses on molecular mechanisms underlying host-pathogen interactions using Listeria monocytogenes as a model facultative intracellular pathogen. Specific projects currently are to: (1) establish how L. monocytogenes infects mammalian cells and tissues, (2) determine the molecular basis and outcomes of host-cell signaling in response to listeriolysin O, the major virulence factor of L. monocytogenes and a member of the cholesterol-dependent cytolysin (CDC) toxins, and (3) elucidate the mechanisms underlying the anti-toxin and immune-modulatory activities of antimicrobial peptides that belong to the defensin family.
