Professor Mumtaz Virji
Professor of Molecular Microbiology
School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine,
University of Bristol, Medical Sciences Building,
Bristol, BS8 1TD
phone: +44 (0)117 33 12035 (internal 12035)
email: m.virji@bristol.ac.uk
Research Interests
- Molecular basis of common receptor targeting by Neisseria meningitidis and Haemophilus influenzae and other mucosal pathogens and colonisers - especially pertaining to the carcinoembryonic antigen related cell adhesion molecules (CEACAMs).
- Mechanisms of mucosal colonisation by commensal neisserial species.
- Development of in vitro models that mimic post inflammatory state of host target cells to examine the influence of cellular receptor profiles on increased susceptibility to meningococcal infection.
- Molecular analysis of the interactions of Neisseria meningitidis and Haemophilus influenzae with polarised human epithelial cells
- Mechanisms of Neisseria meningitidis targeting of serum factors and intracellular cytoskeletal protein alpha actinin
- Roles of meningococcal adhesins Opc and surface fibrils in complement resistance
- Studies on structure, function and mechanics of the Moraxella catarrhalis UspA adhesins
- Molecular analysis of the components that interact at the meningococcal-primary human nasal epithelial interface
Present collaborators
- Dr. Darryl Hill, CMM
- Professor Neil Williams, CMM
- Professors Leo Brady and Anthony Clarke, School of Biochemistry
- Drs. Richard Sessions, Andrea Hadfield and Mark Jepson, School of Biochemistry
- Professor Adam Finn, Institute of Child Life and Health
- Dr Dave Dymock, Oral and Dental Science, Dental School
- Prof. Xun QU, Shandong University
Selected publications
- Hill, D.J., Whittles, C.E. and Virji, M. (2012) A novel group of Moraxella catarrhalis UspA proteins mediates cellular adhesion via CEACAMs and vitronectin. PLoS One 7(9), e45452. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0045452
- Griffiths, N.J., Hill, D.J., Borodina, E., Sessions, R.B., Devos, I.E., Feron, C.M., Poolman, J.T. and Virji, M. (2011). Meningococcal surface fibril (Msf) binds to activated vitronectin and inhibits the terminal complement pathway to increase serum resistance. Mol. Microbiol. 82(5), 1129–1149. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2958.2011.07876.x
- Agnew, C., Borodina, E., Zaccai, N.R., Conners, R., Burton, N.M., Vicary, J.A., Coled, D.K., Antognozzi, M., Virji, M. and Brady, R.L. (2011) Correlation of in situ mechanosensitive responses of the Moraxella catarrhalis adhesin UspA1 with fibronectin and receptor CEACAM1 binding. PNAS 108, 15174-15178. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1106341108
- Murillo, I. and Virji, M. (2010) Visualisation and quantification of intracellular interactions of Neisseria meningitidis and human alpha-actinin by confocal imaging. J. Vis. Exp. (JoVE) 44,: 2045. doi: 10.3791/2045.
- Sa E. Cunha, C., Griffiths, N.J. and Virji, M. (2010) Neisseria meningitidis Opc invasin binds to the sulphated tyrosines of activated vitronectin to attach to and invade human brain endothelial cells. PLoS Pathog. 6: e1000911.
- Griffiths, N.J., Sa E Cunha, C., Murillo, I., Youssef, A.R., Borodina, E., Hill, D.J. and Virji, M. (2009) Dynamics of Neisseria meningitidis interactions with human cellular barriers and immune effectors. VacciMonitor 18(2), 88-90.
- Carbonnelle, E., Hill, D.J., Morand, P., Griffiths, N.J., Bourdoulous, S., Murillo, I., Nassif, X. and Virji, M. (2009) Meningococcal interactions with the host. Vaccine 27 Supp 2, B78–B89.
- Virji, M. (2009) Ins and outs of microbial adhesion. In: Topics in Current Chemistry, Volume: 'Glycoscience and Microbial Adhesion'. Lindhorst and Oscarson Eds. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.
- Virji, M. (2009) Pathogenic neisseriae: surface modulation, pathogenesis and infection control. Nat. Revs. Microbiol. 7, 274-286.
- Sa E Cunha, C., Griffiths, N.J., Murillo, I. and Virji, M. (2009) Neisseria meningitidis Opc invasin binds to the cytoskeletal protein alpha-actinin. Cellular Microbiology, 11(3), 389-405.
- Conners, R., Hill, D.J., Borodina, E., Agnew, C., Daniell, S.J., Burton, N.M., Sessions, R.B., Clarke, A.R., Catto, L.E., Lammie, D., Wess, T., Brady, R.L., Virji, M. (2008) The Moraxella adhesin UspA1 binds to its human CEACAM1 receptor by a deformable trimeric coiled-coil. The EMBO Journal 27, 1779-1789.
- Griffiths, N.J., Bradley, C.J., Heyderman, R.S. and Virji, M. (2007) IFN-gamma amplifies NF kappa B-dependent Neisseria meningitidis invasion of epithelial cells via specific upregulation of CEA-related cell adhesion molecule 1. Cellular Microbiology 9, 2968-2983.
- Villullas, S., Hill, D.J., Sessions, R.B., Rea, J. and Virji, M. (2007) Mutational analysis of human CEACAM1: The potential of receptor polymorphism in increasing host susceptibility to bacterial infection. Cellular Microbiology, 9, 329-346.