Javier Pizarro-Cerda

Aug 31, 2022

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Javier Pizarro-Cerda

Institut Pasteur

Yersinia

pizarroj@pasteur.fr

Website: https://research.pasteur.fr/fr/team/yersinia/
ORCID: 0000-0002-4343-0508 

Our unit is interested in investigating the biology of three human pathogens of the genus Yersinia: Y. pestis, the agent of plague, as well as the enteropathogens Y. enterocolitica and Y. pseudotuberculosis. Our research addresses fundamental questions in infection biology as well as applied and clinicaly relevant issues in medicine and public health:

– Bacterial and human infection-related evolution: Y. pestis emerged recently from Y. pseudotuberculosis, but their virulence mechanisms significantly differ. We take advantage of our unique bacterial collections to characterize the genomic population structures of both bacterial species, to identify the evolutionary trends that led to specific pathogenicity traits, and to discover novel virulence factors. We also investigate the potential impact of plague in the evolutionary history of the human immune system by studying the immune responses of macrophages derived from induced pluripotent stem cells from present human populations, and by comparing immune genes from ancient DNA prior to, during and post Black Death (1347-1352).

– Systems biology of infection: We use Y. enterocolitica and Y. pseudotuberculosis as a model pathogens to explore enteric infections. Genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic approaches are used to study relevant Y. enterocolitica biotypes highly prevalent in France, as well as specific clones of Y. pseudotuberculosis present in Asia and East Europe. We investigate in vitro the bacterial molecular transition from environmental to host conditions, and in vivo the traversal of the intestinal barrier, as well as the role played by stromal cells during enteropathogen infection.

– Public health and surveillance: We currently ameliorate diagnosis tests and develop a vaccine against plague. We also investigate the dynamics of Y. enterocolitica in France, studying its circulation between animals hosts and humans. In the framework of an International Unit between Institut Pasteur of Madagascar, Institut Pasteur of Lille and our own unit, we investigate the dynamics of Y. pestis circulation/evolution in Madagascar.

Top 5 publications

1- A Role for Taok2 in Listeria monocytogenes Vacuolar Escape.
Quereda JJ, Morel C, Lopez-Montero N, Ziveri J, Rolland S, Grenier T, Aulner N, Danckaert A, Charbit A, Enninga J, Cossart P, Pizarro-Cerdá J. J Infect Dis. 2022 Mar 15;225(6):1005-1010. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiaa367. PMID: 32582947

2- Listeriolysin S: A bacteriocin from Listeria monocytogenes that induces membrane permeabilization in a contact-dependent manner.
Meza-Torres J, Lelek M, Quereda JJ, Sachse M, Manina G, Ershov D, Tinevez JY, Radoshevich L, Maudet C, Chaze T, Giai Gianetto Q, Matondo M, Lecuit M, Martin-Verstraete I, Zimmer C, Bierne H, Dussurget O, Cossart P, Pizarro-Cerdá J. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021 Oct 5;118(40):e2108155118. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2108155118. PMID: 34599102

3- Bread Feeding Is a Robust and More Physiological Enteropathogen Administration Method Compared to Oral Gavage.
Derbise A, Echenique-Rivera H, Garcia-Lopez M, Beau R, Mattei M, Varet H, Dersch P, Pizarro-Cerdá J. Infect Immun. 2020 Mar 23;88(4):e00810-19. doi: 10.1128/IAI.00810-19. Print 2020 Mar 23. PMID: 32014893

4- Reassessing the role of internalin B in Listeria monocytogenes virulence using the epidemic strain F2365.
Quereda JJ, Rodríguez-Gómez IM, Meza-Torres J, Gómez-Laguna J, Nahori MA, Dussurget O, Carrasco L, Cossart P, Pizarro-Cerdá J. Clin Microbiol Infect. 2019 Feb;25(2):252.e1-252.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.cmi.2018.08.022. Epub 2018 Sep 6. PMID: 30195066

5- Isolation of a Yersinia enterocolitica biotype 1B strain in France, and evaluation of its genetic relatedness to other European and North American biotype 1B strains.
Savin C, Le Guern AS, Lefranc M, Brémont S, Carniel E, Pizarro-Cerdá J. Emerg Microbes Infect. 2018 Jul 4;7(1):121. doi: 10.1038/s41426-018-0123-0. PMID: 29970913

 

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