Raffaele IevaChercheur CNRS au Laboratoire de microbiologie et génétique moléculaires (LMGM)
Mes recherches
During my PhD (2006), I studied the transcriptional regulation of bacterial virulence genes in the team of Vincenzo Scarlato (Chiron Vaccines/University of Bologna-Italy). I obtained a postdoctoral fellowship (2006-2010) from the National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, MD – USA) to join the team of Harris Bernstein, where I investigated the mechanisms by which bacterial pathogens secrete virulence factors that are critical for host infection. From 2011 till 2015, I joined the team of Klaus Pfanner (University of Freiburg, Germany) to study the molecular machines that sort proteins to mitochondria, eukaryotic cell organelles of bacterial origin. In 2016, thanks to the ATIP-Avenir starting grant, I established my team at the CNRS in Toulouse and I obtained a researcher (CR) position.
Mon projet ATIP-Avenir
Bacterial outer membrane proteins: biogenesis, quality control, and interaction with eukaryotic host cell mitochondria
Cellular membranes and their resident proteins accomplish crucial functions, including metabolite transport, energy conversion, signaling and secretion. Biogenesis and remodeling of membrane components are two key complementary tasks crucial for the function of a cell compartment. A central objective of our research is to decipher the pathways of protein transport into and across membranes, their coordination with other cellular biogenesis processes, as well as their response to cellular signaling cues and environmental stresses. Our work helps to identify new avenues for antibiotic and vaccine development, and to understand the molecular causes of genetic disorders associated to inaccurate protein sorting in the cell.