Nadine Daou Ph.D.
Nadine Daou
Postdoctoral Fellow
Address: Boston University Department of Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases. 650 Albany st. X-620. Boston, MA 02118
Email: ndaou@bu.edu
Office: 617-414-1687
About Me:
I am originally from Lebanon. I took my B.S in Biology and my Master of Sciences from Saint Joseph University of Beirut. After, I did a Ph.D in Microbiology in correspondence between AgroParisTech in Paris-France and the Saint-Joseph University of Beirut in Lebanon. My thesis project: identification of new hosts-dependants factors in Bacillus cereus and molecular and functional characterization of IlsA, a surface protein essential for iron acquisition during infection. Currently, I’m a post doc in Genco’s lab at Boston University, department of Medicine.
Education:
Postdoctoral Fellow, Boston University School of Medicine, Department of Medicine; Boston, MA
Ph.D. Microbiology, AgroParisTech, France and Saint-Joseph University, Lebanon
M.S. Saint-Joseph University, Lebanon
B.S. Saint-Joseph University, Lebanon
Research:
Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a Gram-negative diplococcus bacterium that belongs to the Neisseria genus including Neisseria meningitidis. N. gonorrhoeae is the causative agent of the sexually transmitted disease, gonorrhea. Gonococcal infections begin at mucosal surface, typically the urethra in males and the cervix in female as well as other anatomical locations such as the fallopian tubes, the rectum and the pharynx may also be infected. In order to survive in such variable niches and immunologically challenging, N. gonorrhoeae employs strategies to adapt to its different environment. These involve the regulation of gene expression in response to environmental cues as well as the deployment of virulence factors and immune evasion strategies to counteract the host immune response. Studies in our lab focus on iron-responsive regulation mediated by the Ferric Uptake Regulator (Fur).
My project consists of:
- Characterize Fur mediated transcriptional regulation through an indirect mechanism by which Fur function via another regulatory protein in Neisseria gonorrhoeae.
- Evaluate the effect of the Fur regulatory cascade on the virulence (adhesion and invasion) of N. gonorrhoeae using the human cervical epithelial cells and the mice as an infection model.
- I will also work on knockout mouse models in order to determine the role of the intracellular Nod-like receptors (NLRs) which are the key mediators of inflammatory and immune responses.
Publications:
Daou N, Buisson C, Gohar M, Vidic J, Bierne H, Kallassy M, Lereclus D, Nielsen-LeRoux C.
IlsA, a unique surface protein of Bacillus cereus required for iron acquisition from heme, hemoglobin and ferritin. Plos Pathogen 2009 Nov;5(11):e1000675.
Fedhila S, Daou N, Lereclus D, Nielsen-LeRoux C.
Identification of Bacillus cereus internalin and other candidate virulence genes specifically induced during oral infection in insects. Molecular Microbiology 2006 62(2), 339–355.
Awards:
Student Travel Award for presentation of a paper entitled “Characterization and role of an iron dependant internalin-like expressed during infection protein”. 40th Annual Meeting of the society for invertebrate pathology, August 12-16, 2007, Quebec, Canada.
Outstanding Student Oral Presentation, Honorable Mention. “Characterization and role of an iron dependant internalin-like protein expressed during infection”. 40th Annual Meeting of the society for invertebrate pathology, August 12-16, 2007, Quebec, Canada.
