Rank/Position: Associate Professor, University of Thessaly

Scientific Field: Molecular Biology in Food Science

Faculty/Department/Research Institution: Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Thessaly

My research interests have focused mainly on microbes, common inhabitants of the gastrointestinal tract (Bifidobacterium bifidum and Escherichia coli), the oral cavity (Porphyromonas gingivalis and Tannerella forsythia) or opportunistic pathogens (Bacteroides fragilis and Bacillus anthracis) which are directly related to human health. All these microbes use a multitude of mechanisms to enter and establish themselves in the human body, to escape the host defense system, to modify the environment to their advantage and to extract materials for growth and dissemination.

Using a combination of structural (X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy) biochemical, microbiological and molecular approaches, many protein mechanisms have been investigated and their function and biological role revealed. My work has focused mainly on metallopeptidases (e.g. fragilysin) and different types of peptidase inhibitors (e.g. α2-macroglobulin and serpins), but also on other virulence factors or modifying enzymes (e.g. arginine deiminase and galactosidases) of microbial or human origin. Part of my research activity has also focused on membrane proteins, including a peptidase from E. coli and an unknown protein from Helicobacter pylori.

At the same time, part of my research activity had a technological impact which is evident from 3 international patents currently used by a biotechnology company for the production of functional components. Some others led to the development of biotechnological tools, such as a series of plasmid vectors for protein overexpression and purification (pCri System) and a new peptidase as an alternative to trypsin for proteomic analyses (Lysarginase).