LMCB - Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology
Research Associate, Henriques Lab
p.pereira@ucl.ac.uk
Europe PMC | PubMed | ORCID | Researchgate | Scopus
Most mammalian pathogens such as viruses, bacteria and protozoan parasites, exist and elicit interactions with host factors, at scales near or below the resolution limit of conventional light microscopy (~300nm). This drawback has critically limited the information obtained in infection-based imaging studies. Super-Resolution Localisation Microscopy (SMLM) methods such as Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy (STORM) hold the potential to resolve cellular structures at near-molecular scales (~1-30nm) in a non-destructive and molecularly specific manner. However, this family of approaches is still severely handicapped by 1) the complexity of high-speed experiments with minimal photo- or chemical-damage to the sample, and 2) the reduced number of fluorophores that can be adapted for multicolour Super-Resolution imaging. In the Quantitative Imaging and Nanobiophysics Group I’m applying my expertise in cell biology, biochemistry and my background as a chemist to develop new probes that overcome these challenges allowing to fully explore the potential of SMLM methods. We aim to apply these new developments to the study of how pathogens interact and overrun the host immune response in order to establish a successful infection.
BBSRC
Cytoskeleton and cell cortex, Cell-cell interactions, Membrane trafficking, Viral pathogens