Post-doctoral position in cell biology/cellular microbiology

Title: Biogenesis of a lysosome-related organelle and a parasitic vacuole : a crosstalk between skin pigmentation and bacterial infection

Chlamydia trachomatis is a human-adapted pathogen that develops exclusively inside a vacuolar compartment. The host lab has gathered evidence that these bacteria hijacked the trafficking machinery implicated in the formation of Lysosome-Related Organelles (LROs) to build their vacuole. LROs are organelles that share features with lysosomes, though being not degradative. Defects in LRO biogenesis are associated to a number of syndromic disorders , e.g. in skin pigmentation, blood coagulation, immune or lung functions. The main aim of the present project is to exploit the bacteria as a tool to delineate the membrane trafficking pathways needed for LRO biogenesis, and to identify molecules that interfere with this process, with potential application in drug development.

The project will be led in close collaboration with the laboratory of Graça Raposo at Institut Curie in Paris, that has international recognized expertise in LRO biogenesis and in different electron microscopical methods. The host team itself, at Institut Pasteur, has 20 years of expertise in the study of the interactions between the intracellular bacterium C. trachomatis and epithelial cells.

The project will use experimental approaches of cell biology and molecular biology with an emphasis on state-of-the-art optical and electron microscopy techniques