Dr. Debajit Dey, Research Fellow at the University of Leeds, UK, delivered an engaging talk titled “How Microbes Navigate the Complex Environments of the Human Body: From Virus Assembly to Bacterial Mucin Metabolism.”
Dr. Dey is a virologist and structural biologist with extensive expertise in host–pathogen interactions, viral assembly, and microbiome biology. His research integrates biophysical, structural, and computational approaches to understand how viruses and microbes adapt to and exploit the human cellular environment.
In his talk, Dr. Dey highlighted two fascinating aspects of microbial adaptation. He first discussed how SARS-CoV-2 utilizes molecular mimicry to hijack host intracellular trafficking pathways, emphasizing the role of a critical C-terminal residue in regulating spike protein trafficking and viral assembly. He then shifted focus to the gut symbiont Akkermansia muciniphila, explaining how it employs a specialized enzymatic toolkit to degrade mucin and thrive in the gut environment.
The session provided valuable insights into the precise molecular strategies microbes use to survive and function within the human body, bridging concepts from viral pathogenesis to microbiome biology.