Month: June 2026

Salmonella are bacteria that can cause severe diseases in humans, such as typhoid fever, paratyphoid fever, and gastrointestinal infections. Many Salmonella species are adapted to live and replicate within host cells. To successfully establish and maintain an infection, they produce specific virulence factors. These molecules help the bacteria infect host cells and evade the immune system.

For these virulence factors to exert their function, they must be secreted from the bacterial cell. Salmonella use various secretion systems for this purpose. The T10SS plays a particularly important role in this process and was investigated in greater detail in the research group’s current study.

The researchers showed that this system originally evolved from viruses that infect bacteria, so-called bacteriophages. These viruses use components of this system to lyse infected bacterial cells, enabling their release and subsequent infection of other bacteria. Over the course of evolution, however, the system was modified such that bacterial cells are not destroyed during protein release. Instead, the cell envelope opens in a controlled manner, allowing specific proteins to be secreted.

The T10SS is activated both upon contact with intestinal epithelial cells and after Salmonella bacteria have invaded host cells. Its components are tightly regulated and produced only when needed. This enables the bacteria to release virulence factors in a targeted manner without compromising their cellular integrity.

The results of this study contribute to a better understanding of this secretion system. Since it plays a crucial role in the infection process of both typhoidal and non-typhoidal Salmonella, these findings provide an important foundation for further research into bacterial infections.

Detailed information can be found in the original publication in Frontiers in Microbiology

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1809111/full

MaxP3 – Max von Pettenkofer Institute – Diagnostics and Translational Research in Medical Microbiology and Virology

On June 10, 2026, the new building (MaxP3) for diagnostics and translational research in Großhadern was officially inaugurated. At the grand opening, LMU President Prof. Matthias Tschöp, Minister of Science Markus Blume, and Minister of Construction Christian Bernreiter, among others, attended the symbolic key handover to MvPI Director and Chairholder Prof. Sebastian Suerbaum.

The new MaxP3 building is the third to be constructed for the Max von Pettenkofer Institute, following Pettenkofer’s original “Institute of Hygiene” from 1879—which was destroyed during World War II—and the current main building at Pettenkoferstraße 9a, which was inaugurated 65 years ago. The new building provides a new shared home for the Max von Pettenkofer Institute’s microbiology and virology diagnostic laboratories, after decades in which they were spread across properties in the city center and in Großhadern. Here, the approximately 70 employees find optimal working conditions, can discuss results with one another immediately, and communicate them jointly to clinicians.

The building’s location right next to the clinic is of great importance to the project. Samples from the operating rooms and intensive care units reach MaxP3 in minutes via a modern pneumatic tube system. This close proximity facilitates direct, in-person communication of findings during clinical microbiology rounds or when working as part of the ABS team. The proximity to the research laboratories at the hospital, as well as to the Gene Center, the BMC, and other research facilities, provides the ideal conditions for our translational research.

At the heart of MaxP3 is a 150-square-meter laboratory space designed around a state-of-the-art bacteriological laboratory line.

Link to the LMU news article:

https://www.lmu.de/de/newsroom/newsuebersicht/news/lmu-eroeffnet-neues-gebaeude-fuer-diagnostik-und-translationale-forschung-ee371f50.html