Research project

Gut-invading bacterial pathogens, such as Salmonella, Shigella and pathogenic Escherichia coli spp cause intestinal inflammatory disease and impose a substantial health burden on the worlds human and livestock populations. Once reaching the gut, the bacteria can engage the epithelial cells of the intestinal mucosa, subvert their signaling, and thereby distort gut homeostasis. The mechanisms of pathogen - host cell interplay have traditionally been studied in simplified cell culture settings, where pure bacteria and tumor-derived cell lines are mixed in a culture medium. It remains unclear how relevant such experiments are to accurately understand the molecular and physiological underpinnings of a real infection.
Recent developments in high-resolution microscopy techniques and experimental infection models now allow us to tackle how invasive bacterial disease progresses on the cellular and molecular level under physiological settings. The Sellin lab employs organotypic tissue culture, analysis of intact infected tissues, state-or-the-art light microscopy, and the clinically relevant pathogen Salmonella Typhimurium, to explore the mechanisms sparking bacterial gut disease.

The Sellin lab is in startup and will be recruiting coworkers during 2016/2017. If you are interested and want to learn more about our research, please send an email including your CV to [mikael.sellin@icm.uu.se].