Research Interests - Mélanie Hamon

Ph.D. - Pasteur Institute Research Scientist

hamon@pasteur.fr
Pubmed bibliography

Histone modifications induced by Listeria monocytogenes

Does Listeria monocytogenes induce global histone modifications to the host cell during the course of infection? Work carried out in the last two decades has shown that L. monocytogenes is able to manipulate several host signaling pathways, and induces changes in the transcriptional profile of the host cell. The mechanism by which L. monocytogenes is able to alter host transcription is unknown, and therefore, we hypothesized that this bacterium, as viruses, might be able to control host transcription by modifying host histones during the course of infection. Using L. monocytogenes as a model organism, we have been able to show that this intracellular pathogen induces specific changes in the levels of modified histones which correlate with a specific transcriptional response. Questions asked include which cellular and bacterial factors are involved inducing histone modifications, what is the role of these modifications during infection, and can other bacteria induce similar of different histone modifications.