Online Guest Lecture: Mechanistic and Functional Insights into Interkingdom Communication by Bacterial Extracellular Vesicles
Speaker: Professor Meta Kuehn
Affiliations: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina
Date: 7 January 2025
Time: 15:00 (Estonian Time)
Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/97043225075?pwd=7S7LH9NQfnE5zvcf1kfmVSdnlELBVR.1
Speaker Bio
Professor Meta Kuehn completed a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Washington in 1986 and a Ph.D. in Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis from Washington University in 1993. She trained as a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Randy Schekman at UC Berkeley and is now an Associate Professor at Duke University.
Her research, spanning nearly 20 years, investigates the molecular mechanisms and roles of bacterial extracellular vesicles (bEVs) in infectious disease. Her lab developed techniques used internationally for isolating and analyzing bEVs from both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Their groundbreaking genome-wide screen has paved the way for genetic analysis of vesiculation in bacteria.
The lab’s studies also include:
Host cell responses to bEVs, including innate immune reactions and toxic responses,
Antimicrobial properties of bEVs and host responses to nucleic acids carried by bEVs,
Genetic and biochemical basis for lipid and protein enrichment in bEVs,
The molecular mechanisms allowing bEVs to transmit information between cells.
