Page 34 - Rappaport Institute Magazine 2024

MOLECULAR MICROBIOLOGY
Serge Ankri, PhD Professor of Molecular Parasitology
PhD, 1996 – Orsay Paris XI University, France
Unraveling Entamoeba histolytica Virulence: Exploring Epigenetic Influences and Microbial Interactions
The Ankri Lab delves into understanding the regulation of virulence in Entamoeba histolytica, an intestinal parasite responsible for amoebiasis, a significant global health concern. Their research focuses on elucidating the parasite’s response to environmental stresses, with a particular emphasis on tRNA modifications. Alongside these modifications, they also investigate the role of the gut microbiota in infection dynamics. Through a series of publications, their meticulous exploration of this intricate relationship unveils insights into the molecular mechanisms governing the parasite’s resistance to nitrosative stress, oxidative stress, and antibiotics. They identify specific proteins and metabolic pathways crucial in the parasite’s stress response, offering valuable therapeutic targets. Recently, their research expanded to investigate interactions between the parasite and bacterial biofilms in the gut, shedding light on their implications for stress tolerance, antibiotic resistance, and cytotoxicity. Employing multi-omics characterization, the Ankri Lab significantly advances our understanding of how E. histolytica adapts to environmental challenges, thereby offering promising avenues for innovative strategies against amoebiasis and related infections.
Selected Publications
ˆ 1-Digestive exophagy of biofilms by intestinal amoeba and its impact on stress tolerance and cytotoxicity. Zanditenas E, Trebicz-Geffen M, Kolli D, Domínguez- García L, Farhi E, Linde L, Romero D, Chapman M, Kolodkin-Gal I, Ankri S. NPJ Biofilms Microbiomes. 2023 Oct 9;9(1):77. doi: 10.1038/s41522-023-00444-x. ˆ 2-Entamoeba histolytica Adaption to Auranofin: A Phenotypic and Multi-Omics Characterization.
Shaulov Y, Sarid L, Trebicz-Geffen M, Ankri S. Antioxidants. 2021 Aug 2;10(8):1240. doi: 10.3390/antiox10081240.
ˆ 3-Queuine Is a Nutritional Regulator of Entamoeba histolytica Response to Oxidative Stress and a Virulence Attenuator. Nagaraja S, Cai MW, Sun J, Varet H, Sarid L, Trebicz-Geffen M, Shaulov Y, Mazumdar M, Legendre R, Coppée JY, Begley TJ, Dedon PC, Gourinath S, Guillen N, Saito-Nakano Y, Shimokawa C, Hisaeda H, Ankri S. mBio. 2021 Mar 9;12(2):e03549-20. doi: 10.1128/mBio.03549-20.
sankri@technion.ac.il
Serge Ankri Lab
3D reconstruction of Entamoeba histolytica (in green) preying on Bacillus subtilis biofilm (in red)