The Woodward Laboratory

Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) is a gram-positive intracellular, food-borne human pathogen and an important public health problem. Because Lm is genetically tractable, has a well-characterized infection cycle, and has in vitro and in vivo models of infection, it is an ideal organism to study the fundamental aspects of intracellular pathogenesis and the host innate immune response to cytosolic invasion.

​

Cellular infection by Lm results in bacterial entry into the cytoplasm of the host cell followed by replication of the bacteria. Lm hijacks host cell actin as a means of generating bacterial motility, which allows bacterial translocation into neighboring cells without the need of leaving the confines of the intracellular niche. How Lm adapts to the nutrients of the cytosol and efficiently counteracts/evades the host cell-intrinsic mechanisms of bacterial clearance are central to the investigation of the Woodward lab.