Jun 14, 2020
Dario Simões Zamboni is a professor in the Department of Cell
Biology at the Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São
Paulo, and he joins the show to discuss the ins and outs of his
important and fascinating research.
In this episode, you’ll discover:
Zamboni’s research focuses on the interactions between host
cells in the human body and microbial pathogens. According to
Zamboni, understanding the processes that occur in relation to
these interactions is key to understanding the outcome of certain
diseases.
When a pathogen is able to replicate in the host’s body, severe
illness and even death can result, but under certain circumstances,
the body can fight a pathogen and regain homeostasis. So, what
dictates what will happen? This is one of the questions Zamboni
spends his days investigating.
Of particular interest to Zamboni are the intracellular
parasites Leishmania and Trypanosoma
cruzi, and the intracellular
bacteria Legionella and Coxiella
burnetii. These pathogens are considered virulent, which means
they are adapted to subvert the function of certain cells, such as
macrophages which are integral to the immune response.
In the presence of these pathogens, macrophages are rendered unable
to kill the pathogen or recruit other cells to kill the pathogen.
Zamboni's goal is to better understand how exactly this process of
modification by the pathogen works, and what exactly dictates
whether the host or pathogen wins.
Among other topics, Zamboni talks in detail about the process of phagocytosis, pathogenesis, innate immune memory, the many receptors we have that are ready to sense the most abundant components of bacteria, and bacterial secretion systems for modulating immune cells.
Tune in and check out https://lpm.fmrp.usp.br/en/ to
learn more.
Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK