Join us for the first Seminar of the Trinity Term series:
Chair: Kevin Wolz
Speakers:
Luciano Marasco – The Physiology of Alternative Splicing
Carolin Kobras – Antimicrobial Resistance in the Opportunistic Pathogen Staphylococcus Epidermidis
Luciano Marasco holds a PhD in Molecular Biology and a degree in Biological Sciences from Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences, University of Buenos Aires. He has a special interest in Spinal Muscular Atrophy and other neurodegenerative diseases and has contributed to a better understanding of it in various countries. He holds patents for his research in the field of Synthetic Biology and RNA-based therapies. In his spare time, he devotes his time to printmaking, print art research and science communication.
Alternative splicing, a process in which a single gene can produce multiple protein isoforms, greatly contributes to the complexity of multicellular organisms transcriptomes. This complexity extends to the protein level and significantly influences physiological and pathological processes. Through genome-wide analyses and detailed studies, it’s evident that alternative splicing regulates diverse cellular functions such as tissue-specific differentiation, thermal regulation, neuron development, and disease like cancer and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Mastery of alternative splicing control has led to clinically approved therapies for hereditary diseases. This seminar emphasizes the critical role of alternative splicing in shaping organismal physiology and pathology, highlighting its potential for therapeutic interventions.
Carolin Kobras joined Dr Mathew Stracy’s laboratory at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology as a postdoctoral researcher in October 2022. Since October 2023 she has been a JRF at Linacre. Carolin’s research focuses on understanding how bacteria can survive antibiotic treatment and how we can overcome this challenge.
Staphylococcus epidermidis is a prominent bacterium of the human skin microbiota, which has also emerged as a leading nosocomial pathogen. S. epidermidis is one of the most frequent causes of implant-associated infections, prosthetic valve endocarditis and cardiac pacemaker infections. Furthermore, S. epidermidis is responsible for 30-40% of nosocomial bloodstream infections.
Treatment of S. epidermidis infections is increasingly difficult due to the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance – a major global threat to public health. In this study, we tested 88 S. epidermidis isolates from infection and carriage for resistance to different clinically-relevant antibiotics. Linking phenotypic resistance to the presence of genotypic resistance determinants, we found striking associations between antibiotic resistance and specific genomic variation.
