Listeria, the challenge of the crossing

The lecture was illustrated by a seminar entitled "Listeria: le pari de la traversée", given by Professor Marc Lecuit, PU-PH at the Necker-Enfants malades medical school and head of a research group at the Institut Pasteur. This seminar illustrated the power of combining the tools of genomics, molecular genetics, cell biology, modern imaging methods and the design/manipulation of mouse models to elucidate the complexity of the mechanisms used by a pathogen like Listeria monocytogenes to cross an integrated barrier as coherent and well-defended as the intestinal epithelial barrier. This lecture also illustrated the notion of species specificity and how mice can be "humanized" by transgenesis to answer this key question.