Project Grant F32AI186544

The University of Colorado-Denver received a Project Grant award of $152,656 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (CFDA 93.855 - Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research) to study the role of the protein synaptopodin in enabling the spread of Shigella bacteria within host cells. The research aims to define the mechanisms by which synaptopodin phosphorylation and protein interactions promote the formation of bacterial protrusions that facilitate intercellular spread of Shigella flexneri, a major cause of severe diarrheal disease globally. Successful completion of the proposed aims is expected to uncover new insights into how synaptopodin functions in cells and how bacterial pathogens exploit host cell processes to cause disease, with potential implications for understanding and addressing a range of diarrheal illnesses.