Analysis of Bacterial Uptake & Growth within Mammalian Cells

Molly Bergman
Postdoctoral Fellow
Ph.D. University of Washington, 2003
B.S. University of Michigan, 1996

Thesis
Host responses to Salmonella typhimurium infection vitro and in vivo

Current Research
I am interested in adaptive immune responses to Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, with an emphasis on how CD8+ T cells target an extracellular pathogen.

Publications

1. Barnes PD*, Bergman MA*, Mecsas J., Isberg RR (2006). Yersinia pseudotuberculosis disseminates directly from a replicating bacterial pool in the intestine. Journal of Experimental Medicine 203:1591-601. *co-first authors
2. Bergman MA, Cummings LA, Alaniz RC, Mayeda L, Fellnerova I, Cookson BT (2005). CD4+-T-cell responses generated during murine Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium infection are directed towards multiple epitopes within the natural antigen FliC. Infection and Immunity 73:7226-35.
3. Bergman MA, Cummings LA, Barrett SL, Smith KD, Lara JC, Aderem A, Cookson BT (2005). CD4+ T cells and Toll-like receptors recognize Salmonella antigens expressed in bacterial surface organelles. Infection and Immunity 73:1350-6.
4. Brennan MA, Cookson BT (2000) Salmonella induces macrophage death by caspase-1-dependent necrosis. Mol. Microbiol. 38:31-40.