IMM & CLS & LMB & McGovern Joint Research Seminar 
Title：Biology and Engineering of Bacterial Toxins
Speaker：Min Dong, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Immunobiology
Department of Urology, Boston Children’s Hospital,
Harvard University, USA
Time：2017年4月26日（星期三）下午4:00-5:30
Place：英国威廉希尔公司英杰交流中心306会议室
Host：英国威廉希尔公司分子医学研究所  周专(Tel. 6275-3212)
Abstract: 
Identification of the colonic epithelial receptor for C. difficile toxin B (TcdB) Clostridium difficile toxin B (TcdB) is a critical virulence factor causing diseases associated with C. difficile infection (CDI). How this toxin targets and enters colonic epithelial cells has remained unknown for many years. We recently carried out CRISPR-Cas9-mediated genome-wide screens and identified the members of the Wnt receptor Frizzled (FZDs) family as physiologically relevant TcdB receptors in the colonic epithelium. Furthermore, we demonstrated that TcdB competes with Wnt for binding to FZDs, and its binding blocks Wnt signaling, thus revealing a potential new mechanism of pathogenesis for TcdB. This work forms a solid scientific basis for our proposal to further understand the role of FZD-mediated toxin entry in TcdB pathogenesis in vivo in C. difficile infection models, and to explore potential therapeutic approaches by blocking toxin-receptor interactions and by restoring Wnt activity in colonic cells. 
Tao L ... Dong M (2016). Frizzled proteins are colonic epithelial receptor for C. difficile toxin B. Nature (article), 538(7625):350-355. 
欢迎各位老师同学积极参加！